Final Destiny
by Jenova Remnant
Summary: A mysterious warrior, Tiamatt has strange connection with the Meteor Incident. Who is she? Why can't she remember anything? This is my first fanfic. AU Please read and review. Complete
1. Chapter 1:Oblivion

_**Final Destiny**_

_**A mixed fanfiction**_

_**By JenovaRemnant**_

**Introduction**

This is the story of Tiamatt, a human whose life is full of strange things. Her

history is entwined with those who witnessed the Meteor Incident and with those

involved in the Sorceress Wars. This particular par of her story happens long after the

defeat of Ultimecia and the reversal of Time Compression. The Earth has split up its

lifestream, allowing life to flourish not only on Earth but also on the other eight planets

of the Sol System. With the life no longer restricted to Earth, the Earth itself began the rapid evolution of some humans, thus creating the Nine Great Species. Mercury was the

home to the phoenixes. Venus supported the giant serpents. Earth remains ruled by

humans, who are the reason the Nine exist. Wolves rule Mars, the red planet. Jupiter's

skies are filled with the wings of griffins. Saturn is the planet of the dragons. Uranus, the

planet of the cheetah-like yerias. Neptune is ruled by the four-legged sea serpents. And

Pluto is the icy world of the tall, bear like geios. This is the story of the Dark Wars and of

Tiamatt's adventures. Please note, however, that the story spans over several years. Only

major events were recorded in this document.

**Part One**

**Chapter 1: Oblivion**

A gentle breeze rustled the trees that surrounded the clearing. A giant oak stood proudly

at the clearing's center, casting a shadow over the stream that ran tot he west of the oak.

A path at the southern end of the clearing led to an ancient airship, its dragonic shape clearly visible. The sun shone brightly off its red sides while the word "Ragnorok"

showed proudly. From the airship walked a young woman, clad in a white tank top and

dark blue jeans, two swords hung loosely at her side. Her long, light brown hair seemed

to flow behind her as she followed the path to the clearing. As she entered the clearing, a

large gold bird ran towards her, thrilling happily.

"Solix!" she cried, trying to keep the bird from knocking her over, "Stop it you

stupid Chocobo! You ate the last green yesterday!"

Solix, having not received a treat, slowly backed away and stood patiently as his

owner dusted the dirt off of her clothes. The woman walked over to a hidden shed and

pulled a worn saddle. As she turned around, saddle in hand, Solix walked over and sat on

the ground. She finished securing the straps and flipped the reins over his crested head

and looped them around the saddle horn.

"Wark!" Solix stood up suddenly and ran off into the woods.

"What the! You stupid bird, get back here!" she yelled.

"I've finally found you, Tiamatt!" said a voice behind her. She felt the cold, sharp

edge of a sword press against her neck as she started to reach for her own blades. "Don't

even try it." Said the voice cooly, " Now turn around!"

Tiamatt raised her hands above her head and turned around to see her attacker. A

young man, no older than twentyfour, stood staring at her with piercing dark eyes. He

wore a denim jacket with a black t-shirt underneath it, his jeans were held up by a belt

designed with an assortment of fangs. The hilt of his sword looked like a dragon in full

flight, the long steel blade of the sword trailing behind it.

"Lord Wil, what brings you to my home!" she said as she spotted the royal seal of

Mars on the back of his hand.

"It's Oblivion to you, dragon!" he replied angrily, "you shall be added to my

collection when I'm done with you! Now prepare to fight!" Oblivion took a step back,

sword still raised.

Tiamatt sighed and drew her swords. "I do not wish to fight. I merely wish to

continue living my life in solitude." he said softly.

"You make this too easy for me, Tiamatt the Great Warrior of Saturn! Why

should I believe a miserable worm like you?" Oblivion shouted as he charged at her,

blade flashing.

Tiamatt dodged the attack, taking to the air with a powerful leap and a sweep of

dragon wings as they appeared from her shoulder blades. They swept the air slowly, carrying her high into the air. She looked down t Oblivion as he recovered from the miss

and swung his sword into the air.

"Thunder!" he cried. A lightning bolt came from nowhere and struck Tiamatt's

left wing. She cried out in pain and struggled to maintain altitude. As she slowly climbed

higher, she looked down once again to see Oblivion cast another spell. Without warning,

she froze in midair. Unable to beat her wings to maintain lift, Tiamatt plummeted back to

earth, gaining speed every second.

"Thundara!" A second bolt of lightning came down and hit Tiamatt dead center.

Her wings crumbled and body withered in pain from the electric shock as she continued

to fall towards the ground.

Boom! She crashed into the ground near the oak tree, causing the resulting tremor

to silence all the forest creatures. Tiamatt tried to stand up but fell as pain coursed

through her right leg. She pulled her wings back in and looked up at Oblivion, who stood

proudly, sword in hand, preparing for the final move.

Tiamatt suddenly jumped up, knocking Oblivion to the side. He looked up to see

his prey attack a strange dark monster, her blood splattered the ground where the

monsters claws had hit. Tiamatt began her transformation into a dragon but the monster

attacked, hitting her injured leg and knocking her to the ground. The resulting roar of

pain shook the forest, causing clouds of birds to fill the sky. The monster began to

fiercely stab at the fallen dragon with its sharp claws. Tiamatt wrapped her tail around its

back leg and flung it high into the air. In a final effort, she turned and released a stream of

blue flames that engulfed the monster, which died in shrieks of pain.

"Are you all right?" she asked weakly, gasping for breath.

"Why did you save me?" questioned Oblivion.

"I did what I had to do. That is all there is to it." She said simply as she struggled

to reposition herself against the tree and returned to her human form.

"What!" oblivion's confusion showed clearly on his face. " I tried to kill you, yet

you saved my life. Why?"

"Because it was the right thing to do." She answered. With a gasp of pain,

Tiamatt passed out.

_Maybe I was wrong,_ thought Oblivion, _Maybe the prophecy was wrong._ He

picked himself up off the ground and walked over to the unconscious Tiamatt.

"Ok, I'll help you." He said as he began to clean and bandage her wounds.


	2. Chapter 2:New friend

**Chapter 2: New Friend**

Tiamatt woke up and slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to focus. A crackling

fire sat in the middle of the clearing, a pot of boiling water over it. To her right, Solix lay

with his head between his wings. He opened his eyes and thrilled softly.

"I know, you silly choco." Said Oblivion from her left. He stood up and walked

over to her, handing her a canteen of water. Tiamatt tried to speak but was too weak.

Oblivion laughed. "Because it was the right thing to do." He chuckled as he answered her

unspoken question. Tiamatt nodded, took the canteen and slowly drank the cool,

refreshing water. Her thirst quenched, she handed the canteen back to Oblivion, who

refilled it in the stream and then put it away.

"You should rest. Your wounds are serious and it's too dangerous for you to move.

So go ahead and sleep." Oblivion said, sitting back down. Tiamatt smiled a thanks and

feel back asleep.

She awoke the next morning in pain. Her cry woke Oblivion who quickly cleaned

and rebandaged her wounded leg. Once the pain had ceased, Tiamatt slowly sat up and

leaned against Solix's soft, warm body. In response to her movement, Solix softly thrilled

a warning.

"I'll be fine, Solix, don't worry." She mummered gently, stroking his head.

Seemingly satisfied Solix laid his head down at her side and cooed with each stroke of

her hand as she pet the golden bird.

"He's really closed to you, isn't he?" asked Oblivion.

"Yes, he is. I hand raised him after I found him injured in the forest." Tiamatt

replied.

"Hahaha! He returned to your side not long after you passed out and he hasn't left

your side since." He laughed and handed Tiamatt a bowl of oatmeal. She nodded in

thanks and quickly finished the bowl.

"How long was I out?" she asked as she wiped the remnants of the oatmeal from

her face.

" Lets see, hmmm… counting today it will have been a week to the day."

Oblivion replied, counting the days on his fingers.

"Seven days." She sighed and then looked at Oblivion, "It seems, however, that

you are learning to trust the individual and not hate them for what they are."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"I mean that you claim to hate all of dragon kind and yet you help me, a dragon,

after I saved your life." Tiamatt said simply. Oblivion stared at her, noting knowing how

to respond.

"I…uh…I…I…" he stammered. Tiamatt laughed and took a sip of water.

"Don't worry I won't tell," she joked, "So what are you going to do now, Mr.

Dragonhunter?" Oblivion turned to watch the last of the embers smolder out.

"To tell you the truth," he sighed, "I have no idea. My mission was to kill you,

but..."

"In not only failing but helping the 'enemy', you could be arrested for treason."

Tiamatt finished. Oblivion nodded.

"What am I to do?" he pleaded.

"Well…" Tiamatt started, "I guess you could say it was a case on mistaken

identity"

"I guess that might work but what if it doesn't?" he asked, thinking the idea over.

"Don't worry about it, I have it all under control" Tiamatt grinned, "But on a more serious note, what was that strange monster?"

Oblivion got up and walked over to where the monster had fallen. Instead of a

brunt body, he found only a scorched spot of ground. He rushed back to the campsite, but

before he could explain what he found, Tiamatt spoke up.

"It disappeared didn't it?" she asked, " It is just like the last one that attacked me.

It, too, disappeared into shadows." Oblivion looked up in shock.

"This isn't your first encounter with these monsters? What are they? He asked.

"I do not know. But I believe that these are not just random attacks. I believe

someone is sending them to attack me." She replied, shaking her head.

"Why you?"

"I do not know. But then again, there are many things about myself that I don't

know." She answered. Oblivion looked even more puzzled then before.

"Is the prophecy being fulfilled?" mummered Oblivion to himself.

"What prophecy?" Tiamatt asked, have overheard the question.

"It's nothing. Don't worry about it." Oblivion replied and stretched. "Do you

think you'll be well enough to travel if we splint your leg?"

Tiamatt nodded and allowed Oblivion to once again bandage her leg. She eased

herself up, waking Solix, who responded with a wark of warning. Tiamatt smiled and pat

his head to reassure the chocobo. Oblivion saddled Solix and gathered his gear. With a

low whistle, a black chocobo appeared out of the forest and ran to greet his master.

"You have a chocobo too? Tiamatt asked as she eased into the saddle.

"Of course!" Oblivion laughed, " It the best way to get around unless you can fly! Isn't

that right Sem?" The black bird warbled in agreement causing both riders to laugh.

"Hahaha! True. That reminds me," Tiamatt turned Solix towards the path, "let's

follow this path!" With a warble, Solix began to run down the familiar, tree lined path

back home.


	3. Chapter 3: Junon

**Chapter 3: Ragnarok**

Oblivion stood gawking at the ancient airship, which stood proudly, sunlight reflecting off its blood red sides.

"Does it fly?" Oblivion asked as he ran his hand over the ships polished sides.

"That's what I'm gonna find out. I haven't flown this for a while." Tiamatt replied, "I'll open the back hatch and you can lead the chocobos into the stalls." Tiamatt rushed into the ship.

Oblivion started towards the back of the ship. He looked at the ships scarlet sides and noticed a name etched into the metal.

"Ragnarok" Oblivion read out loud to himself, "Could this be the same ship from the Sorceress Wars?"

With a hiss, the back hatch opened and Oblivion lead the two chocobos into the spacious interior. Twelve stalls lined the interior, six on each side. The six to Oblivion's right were empty, while four on his left contained chocobos, various ribbons hanging on their stalls. Oblivion led Solix and Sem to two empty stalls. Solix entered his stall happily and began munching on the fresh greens in his food trough. Sem walked slowly into her stall, glancing around until she spotted her own trough full of greens. Oblivion pet his chocobo's head and smiled before turning towards the stairs.

He followed the stairs into a hallway and walked towards an elevator at the corridors end, making note of where the sleeping quarters and other areas were. He entered the elevator and pushed the button to make it rise to the cockpit. Though the ride was only a few seconds; Oblivion still wondered what other items from the ancient days Tiamatt might possess.

"There you are! I thought I would have to go hunt you down!" said Tiamatt grinning, "I trust that everything is ready to go so take a seat." Tiamatt motioned for Oblivion to choose a seat from either of the two rows that were behind the pilot's seat. Oblivion sat down and waited for what he thought would be a nonexistent start.

Tiamatt sat down and leaned back, flipping a few switches and pressing some buttons. A slight vibration and the soft hum of the engines signaled a successful start of the engines. Tiamatt looked over her shoulder at Oblivion, grinning from ear to ear.

"Didn't think it would start, did ya?" Tiamatt taunted, "The Ragnarok may be old but it runs perfectly." Tiamatt turned back towards the front and firmly gripped the joystick. She pulled it towards her and sighed as the airship left the ground and began to gain altitude. The ship flew smoothly through the cloud and was soon hovering just above the planet, which spun below them. Tiamatt turned on autopilot and then turned to face Oblivion.

"I need to restock on some supplies," She said, " is there anyplace you recommend?" Oblivion stood up and walked over to the world map on the back wall of the cockpit and studied it for a moment.

"How about Junon? Its not to far and usually has anything you need." He replied, turning towards her.

"Junon it is then!" Tiamatt said and turned backed towards the control panel. She switched autopilot off and began to fly the ship back down to earth causing Oblivion to stumble back into his seat.

Oblivion looked out the window at the world below. He saw a large desert, the rusted remains of the Gold Saucer visible through the sands. Soon, the ocean filled his gaze and he looked up to see the ancient city of Junon Harbor quickly approaching.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Junon**

Tiamatt eased the Ragnarok down onto Junon's airstrip. A soft bump signaled a successful landing and she turned off the engines. Tiamatt stood up and stretched before walking towards the elevator at the back of the cockpit. Oblivion, too, stood and stretched before following to the elevator. He followed her through the hallways to a small side hatch. Oblivion stood in awe at the sight of Junon's airstrip.

Airships and shuttles of every shape and size could be seen coming and going. Even a few small hovercrafts could be seen. People, mostly humans, walked back and forth between the main city gates and their airships.

"I take it that you don't normally use the airstrip do you?" Tiamatt asked, laughing at her friend's opened mouth expression.

"I've only been here once before and we landed out side of the city and rode in on chocobos." Oblivion replied. Tiamatt once again laughed before walking towards the city gates.

Just inside the town, Tiamatt and Oblivion heard a scream echo though the streets. They rushed forwards towards where the sound had originated and encountered a large mob of people. They peered over the heads of the citizens and saw four shadow monsters attack two young men. One wore the royal emblem of Neptune on his light blue uniform. The other wore the royal emblem of Uranus on the shoulder of his gray clothing.

"What are they doing? Why are there shadow monsters here?" Oblivion asked turning towards Tiamatt. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I have no idea why these monsters are here, but I want to find out why." She replied.

"They'll get killed if we don't help. Com on!" Cried Oblivion and he started to push trough the crowd to join the fight.

"I have a bad feeling about this," muttered Tiamatt and she drew her swords, "Damn, too many people are in my way!" She leaped into the air and spread her wings, gliding over the crowd. Below she could see Oblivion struggling through the mob of people. She used her momentum to thrust her swords into the spine of a shadow monster that was about to attack the Neptunian prince. He turned around in shock as the monster crumbled at his feet.

"Who the hell are you?" He yelled at Tiamatt, battle staff in hand.

"This is not the time nor the place!" Tiamatt replied and she leaped over him to block another attack. She knocked the creature to the side and raised an arm high into the sky, both sword and arm glowing. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck the sword.

"Come forth, Quesacotl!" her voice boomed.

The sky darkened as storm clouds formed, swirling directly above Tiamatt. Lightning bounced back and forth within the cloud. With her sword still raised, a bolt of lighting struck once again, enveloping her entire body. In a flash, she disappeared and a giant thunderbird replaced her, small sparks firing from its body as it opened its wings. It reared back its head and in one sweep of its wings, a bolt of lightning struck the three remaining monsters, who in response, fell in crumbled piles of brunt flesh. Quesacotl ummoned yet another large botl which struck himself and in another flash, Tiamatt reappeared and fell, weak from the summon.


	4. Chapter 4: In the Inn

**Chapter 5: In the Inn**

Tiamatt stumbled and fell as she reappeared from the summon. Oblivion rushed forward and caught her just before she hit the ground.

"I'm sorry. I forgot that you're still injured." He apologized.

"That's ok. I never thought that the summon would use so much of my energy so don't blame yourself." Tiamatt replied, smiling weakly. She slowly stood up on wobbly knees and looked at the two young princes that she had just saved. "Are you ok?"

"That was amazing! How did you summon him? How did you summon Quesacotl?" stammered the Uranian prince. His friend's open mouth showed that, he too, was shocked.

"I don't know exactly why but I've always been able to summon him." Tiamatt laughed.

"No way!" shouted the two princes in unison.

All for warriors laughed and were then thanked by the town's people of Junon. An elderly woman approached Tiamatt.

"Young lady, you and your friends are welcome to stay at the inn for free tonight for your services." She said in a soft, gentle voice.

"Thank you. That would be greatly appreciated." Tiamatt smiled. She nodded at the men to follow her and the elderly woman tot he inn.

Inside, a crackling fire warmed the cheerful interior of the inn. The old woman offered each one of the warriors their choice of tea or coffee and then went to help her other guests. Tiamatt took a sip of tea as she sat down in a recliner near the fire. _What have I gotten myself into? _She thought, _My life is all tangled up again. _She laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Oblivion, who, too, was thinking how his life had changed the last few days.

"It's nothing." She replied and continued to quietly drink her tea.

"You never told us your names?" the Neptunian prince piped.

Tiamatt looked at the young warrior. His blue outfit was snug over his lean yet muscular frame. The jacket of his uniform was open, revealing a white t-shirt underneath. His light brown eyes shown brightly, matching the color of his short well-kept hair. A battle staff leaned against his seat. "I believe it is customary for the questioner to give his name first." She stated simply. The boy looked slightly annoyed at the response. Oblivion laughed but kept quiet.

"I am Kai Linos, prince of Neptune." He replied proudly, puffing out his chest as he sat straight up.

"And I am Sivu Thund of Uranus." His friend answered.

Sivu wore a gray outfit, with a black t-shirt showing through his open jacket of his uniform. His hair was pulled back into a neat yet short ponytail, blonde highlight hung down and framed his face. His eyes were an amazing reddish orange in color. A bow and case of arrows sat next to him on the floor.

"I thought you looked familiar." Tiamatt said, "I am Tiamatt, formerly of Saturn, now of Earth."

"I've heard of you!" blurted out Kai; "You were band from Saturn for killing you family right?" Tiamatt's eyes flared angrily.

"I did no such thing!" She growled.

"Tiamatt, please calm down. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." Oblivion said sternly, glaring at Tiamatt. He turned back to face Kai and Sivu. "I am Wil Silver, a dragonhunter. But please, call me Oblivion."

"Dragonhunter eh? Then why are you traveling with a dragon?" asked Sivu.

" I saved his life and he saved mine. After that we just became friends." Replied Tiamatt truthfully.

"Humph! Whatever." Kai said and he drained his cup of coffee. He stood up and walked towards the door that led outside; accidentally kicking Tiamatt's injured leg. She gasped as waves of pain traveled up her leg.

"Why you little? Try to be more Careful and look where you're walking!" Oblivion yelled as his friend cringed in pain.

"I didn't know she was hurt! She was walking just fine earlier." Shouted Kai in defense.

"Because there is a splint on my leg and I've been trying to not put a lot of weight on it." Tiamatt gasped as the pain slowly resided.

"Whatever." Kai replied," Come on Sivu, let's head out see if we can find out more about those monsters." Sivu stood up and walked towards his friend.

"Wait! You're trying to find out about the shadow monsters too?" Oblivion asked. Kai and Sivu stopped at looked back at Oblivion.

"Yeah." Replied Sivu, "Why?"

"We, too, were attacked by shadow monsters, or at least Tiamatt was." Oblivion replied, " She saved me from an attack and told me that she had battled them before." Tiamatt nodded as she rebandaged her leg.

"I think someone is controlling them, or at least is releasing them. That was about the thirteenth time I've encountered one of those creatures." She stated, " I wonder why they attacked here?"

"They seem to be searching for someone or something." Said Kai.

"Maybe we should travel together since we're all hunting these creature. Said Oblivion and saw everyone nod in agreement. "We should leave in the morning. I think I'll go outside for a bit." He said and left the room.

Kai watched as Oblivion left and noticed the dragon hilted sword on his back. He began to wonder about something that he had heard long ago when he was little. He thought he should ask Oblivion about it but held his tongue and decided to wait. _Maybe later,_ he thought.

"I thin I'll hit the sack." Yawned Kai and he walked out of the room towards the sleeping quarters. Sivu nodded at Tiamatt and then followed his friend towards his own room.

Tiamatt watched the two newcomers leave and turned back towards the fire. She sighed as she watched the flames dance over the wood and finished her tea. Tiamatt closed her eyes and thought about the last couple days. Her thoughts, however, quickly switched topics and she pondered over what Kai had said about the monsters looking for something.

"Are they looking for me?" she whispered to herself.

"You should know the answer to that question, Tiamatt, my sister."


	5. Chapter 5: The Stranger

**Chapter 6: The Stranger**

Tiamatt opened her eyes and turned towards the voice. A young man stood grinning, his long dark hair pulled back in a loose ponytail and a long black trench coat hung on his shoulders.

"I know all about you, sister. I can answer all your question." He sneered.

At that moment, Oblivion walked through the door and stopped as he listened to the stranger, a chill went through his spine. Tiamatt stood up, mouth agape in an attempt to speak.

"Who are you? What do you want with Tiamatt?" shouted Oblivion, taking a step towards the stranger.

"Hahaha! If you want your questions answered, Tiamatt, then head to Galabadia. I'll be waiting to answer all your questions." The stranger laughed and turned towards the door. He opened the door and looked over his shoulder at Tiamatt, a sort of longing in his eyes. "I'll be waiting, sister." With those words, the stranger left, the door closing behind him. Oblivion walked over to Tiamatt and grabbed her shoulders, looking into her eyes.

"Tiamatt, are you okay? Who was that man? Why did he call you sister?" he asked. Tiamatt removed her friend's hands from her shoulders and sat back down, still in shock.

"He…he said that…that he would answer my questions. Could he tell me who…" Tiamatt cut off.

"Tiamatt, what do you mean? What questions? Tiamatt, please answer me." Oblivion was confused. _What does she mean? Who was that man? _Oblivion thought

"I … uh… forget it. You wouldn't understand." She said. Tiamatt stood back up and walked down the hall to her room. She paused outside her door for a moment and looked at her friend. "Good night." She whispered and closed the door. She leaned against the inside of the door and sobbed softly. "Can that man truly tell me the answers to all my questions? Can he tell me who killed my family? Why I'm different?" she whispered to herself. Tiamatt walked over walked over to the bed, wiping the tears from her eyes. She sniffled as she lay down and closed her eyes.

Oblivion stood and wondered about what had just happened. _What's gotten into Tiamatt? Who was that man? Why did he call her sister?_ He walked down the hall towards his own room but paused outside Tiamatt's door. Oblivion could hear quiet sobs come from the other side of the door and her soft footsteps._ Should I tell her the prophecy? _He wondered. He was sure the stranger had something to do with the prophecy but he wasn't sure how exactly he was connected. _What should I do?_ Thought Oblivion. He decided to postpone telling Tiamatt and continued to his room. He set his sword by the nightstand and laid down to sleep.

Tiamatt lay quietly and listened to Oblivion's heavy footsteps as he walked past her room. She heard the soft click as he entered his own room and she opened he eyes. _Now's my chance. If I'm gonna go to Galabadia, then I better go now. _She thought. Tiamatt sat up and flipped her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She walked to the door and listened for the hint of any outside activity. No noise could be heard except for Kai's loud nasal snore from the next room. Tiamatt opened the door slowly and quietly left the inn. She walked down the empty streets towards the airport and opened the back hatch of the Ragnorok.

Tiamatt walked inside toward Solix's stall and clicked her tongue. The golden bird raised his head and warbled. He stood up and stretched as Tiamatt prepared his saddle. Once the straps were secure, she climbed into the saddle and rode Solix out of the ship, closing the door as she left. She paused out side and used the side entrance to enter her room to gather supplies. Tiamatt hurried up to the cockpit and left a small bag and a note for her friends before leaving the airship once again. She returned to Solix and once again got into the saddle. She rode Solix out of the city and looked back at Junon before for heading across the sea to Galabadia….

**Chapter 7: Galabadia**

"Oblivion! Wake up! Tia's gone! Hey Oblivion! Did you hear me?" Someone shouted, pounding on the door. Oblivion's eye snapped open. _Gone, _he thought,_ Damn! This isn't good!_ He bolted straight up and grabbed his sword. He through it over his shoulder and open his door, barely missing Sivu's fist as he tried to pound on the door once again. Sivu grinned apologetically.

"She's gone Oblivion. I've searched the entire inn and Kai has gone out to search the town." Exclaimed Sivu.

"What?! But when?" Oblivion asked and paused for a second as he remembered last night's events. " Damn, she must have left just after I went to sleep." Oblivion rushed out of the inn on to the Junon streets, Sivu close behind. Kai came around a corner and ran over to join them, panting.

"I asked everyone in town but no one has seen her. I think Tiamatt went out of the city but I might be wrong." Kai gasped as he bent over, hands on his knees, to catch his breath. Oblivion nodded and turned towards Junon Harbor Airstrip.

"Let's check the Ragnorok." Said Oblivion.

"The what?" asked Sivu and Kai in unison.

"The Ragnorok. It's Tiamatt's airship from the ancient days." Oblivion replied. Kai and Sivu still had confused looks on their faces. "I'll show you it when we get to the airstrip." He laughed and started towards the gates to the airport, Kai and Sivu following excitedly.

Sunlight shone brightly off the red sides of the dragonic shaped ship as Kai and Sivu stood gawking in amazement. Oblivion laughed and opened the side hatch. As the three warriors entered the ship, Kai ran his hands over the smooth side of the Ragnorok, mummering in amazement. Oblivion led them through the corridor, up the elevator and into the spacious cockpit and watched as his new friends examined the interior. Kai stood look out of the window and examined the controls. He looked down in the pilot's seat and noticed a small bag and a note.

"Hey Oblivion, what is this?" Asked Kai as he handed the items to Oblivion. He opened the bag and three small, red orbs fell out onto the floor. "What are those?" Kai asked, picking one up. As he peered into the scarlet orb, Kai felt as though someone, or something, was looking back at him. He could almost see something in the orb. " What is it?" he asked again.

"'These are Materia, a crystallized form of lifestream. These particular materia are summon materia. I hope Ramuh, Titan, and Odin can aid you in your journey. I hope to meet back up with you later but for now, I must travel on my own journey. Good luck to you all, Tiamatt.'" Read Oblivion.

"Materia! These are have to been lost thousands on years ago. I thought they were a myth!" stated Kai in amazement.

"No, they are real. I possess a few of my own but none of mine are summon materia." Said Oblivion, holding up his arm.

Kai and Sivu watched as Oblivion drew on the power of the materia, causing them to glow yellow and green in his arm. He then took one of the summon materia, Odin, and pressed it into his arm. Kai took Titan, while Sivu took Ramuh, and they both followed Oblivion's example.

"I think I know where Tiamatt is headed." Oblivion said, determination in his eyes. He sat down in the pilot's seat and turned the engines on. "Hold on tight, I'm not use to flying this." He said and pulled the joystick towards him. The Ragnorok lurched off the ground and began its ascent. Oblivion flew slowly, familiarizing himself with the controls and then turned the ship Northwest across the sea. Soon the capital city of Galabadia came in sight.

"Galabadia? Why would she go there?" said Sivu.

"Not to mention how?" added Kai.

"Tiamatt has a gold chocobo, Solix. Gold chocobos are able to run across water and are excellent swimmers." Replied Oblivion as he landed the ship on the outskirts of the city. He turned the engines off and turned towards his companions. " The reason Tiamatt might have come here is that last night, a stranger made a offer to her and said to meet in Galabadia."

"What? I wonder why?" said Kai. _I haven't known her very long but that doesn't seem like something she would do._ He thought.

"I also want to know why that." Added Sivu.

Oblivion sighed. _I guess I must tell them my mission and explain the prophecy._ " I have something to tell you but please, don't tell Tiamatt." He said suddenly. Kai and Sivu faced Oblivion, their expressions asking why. " I'm afraid the truth might hurt her." Oblivion answered sadly and sighed, "As many have forgotten, the royal family of Mars, my family, are the keepers of a prophecy and an ancient weapon." Oblivion pulled the sword from the sheath and held it out front of Kai and Sivu. " This sword belonged originally to a human from the Meteor Incident. However, this human was… different and lived through the Sorceress Wars that happened two thousand years later. They disappeared from history at the end of the second war, the one with Ultimecia. It is said that when time compression was reversed, instead of returning to the present, the warrior somehow went into the future. Balamb Garden Held onto the sword until its closing where it was forgotten. One of my ancestors, one of the first of the wolves of Mar, found the sword and soon after, the prophecy came." Stated Oblivion.

"Wait, are you telling us that you think Tiamatt is the ancient warrior from over a million years ago?" asked Kai, who was examining the sword. Oblivion nodded. " Okay then, now what about this prophecy?" Oblivion opened his mouth to continue but Sivu interupted.

"Guys, I think you should look outside!" exclaimed Sivu, voice quivering.

Oblivion and Kai stood up and joined Sivu by the window. Outside, hundreds of shadow monsters had surrounded the ship, waiting for the warriors to come out. Oblivion rushed down the elevator and out the ship with Kai and Sivu right behind him. The mob of monsters became quiet as a humanoid creature step forward and raised a crude sword.

" All hail the age of Apocalypse!" Its voice boomed. Behind it, the army squealed and cried in delight.


	6. Chapter 6: Galabadia

**Chapter 8: Apocalypse**

"I am Dsanios." Said the stranger from the inn. "I will take you to my master, who can answer all your question."

Tiamatt followed Dsanios to the edge of Galabadia, Solix following reluctantly. A sonic boom filled her ears and she looked up to see the Ragnorok pass overhead. _Didn't take them long,_ she thought, sighing. Dsanios glanced back at her, a strange gleam in his eyes.

"It will not be too much longer, my sister. My master has waited a long time to meet you." Dsanios said in a reassuring tone. Tiamatt nodded and continued to follow him. _Soon,_ he thought, _the reunion will be complete and then…_ Dsanios stopped and turned towards Tiamatt. "You are about to meet my master," he said calmly, " I shall tell him that you have arrived." Dsanios walked away and entered a building. As he left, shadow monsters began to surround Tiamatt, growling their warnings.

"Damn! There's too many of them!" She muttered out loud, drawing her swords. The monsters backed away slightly.

"Do not resist. I've waited for this opportunity for years and I will not let it pass me by again." A voice said coolly.

Tiamatt turned to face the speaker and saw a tall man shrouded in black, a long dark sword at his side. Shadows hid the man's face. A chill ran down Tiamatt's spine as she looked at him. _Why does he seem so familiar? What does he mean ' not let the opportunity pass again'? _ The man laughed as he examined Tiamatt's confused face.

"You don't remember a thing, do you?" he laughed again, " You probably haven't unlocked all of your powers yet either. Hahaha! This is too perfect! But let's have some fun. Ready your swords!" Apocalypse raised his sword high, black flames surrounding the blade. Tiamatt, uneasy, took a step back and tightened her grip on her own weapons. The demonic warrior swung his sword down on Tiamatt, only to meet the twin blades half way.

"I don't know what you want with me, but I won't go down without a fight!" Tiamatt cried proudly. She pushed his sword away and began to fiercely attack the dark entity.

Kai pulled a bladed battle staff out from behind his back as Sivu fitted an arrow into his bow. Oblivion stood tall, sword in hand, ready for the oncoming battle. Suddenly a bolt of lightning fell nearby, illuminating to battlefield. The flash revealed hundreds of monsters and in the background, two tall humanoid figures. Oblivion watched as the taller of the two figures swung a sword at the smaller one. The smaller one defended itself and leaped into the air, revealing two large dragon wings.

"Look!" Oblivion cried, " Tiamatt is here!" He pointed towards where the bolt of lightning had struck moments before.

"It is too late," a monster cackled, "Your friend will fall in defeat to Lord Apocalypse!" In one swift swing, Oblivion silenced the monster forever.

He stealth his blade and began his transformation into a wolf, fur beginning to creep over his skin, hands turning into the clawed paws of a wolf. Kai and Sivu took this as their cue to start their own transformation. Kai in the dragon like sea serpent and Sivu into the cheetah like yerias. Soon, all three warriors were tearing their way through the mob of Shadows. Sivu noted that the creatures seemed to lead them towards Tiamatt and Apocalypse. With a howl, Oblivion bounded into a clearing just below the battle and returned to his human form to view the fight. As Sivu and Kai returned to normal, Oblivion noticed that Apocalypse had too, sprouted wing and fought Tiamatt in the air. He watched helplessly from the ground as Tiamatt struggled to dodge her enemy's attacks.

"Tiamatt watch out!' Oblivion cried, but it was too last.

Apocalypse thrust his sword forward, allowing the blade to bite at Tiamatt's flesh, just below her ribs. Time seemed to stop as her wings crumpled and she plummeted to the ground. Apocalypse landed and stood over her as she gasped in pain. He held up his sword, examining it, and noticed a piece had broken off.

"It seems that you have broken my sword," he sneered. "But that does not matter. Dsanios, come and carry this for me." Apocalypse kicked Tiamatt, who groaned in pain, as he mentioned her.

"How dare you!" Cried Kai, battlestaff in hand, as Sivu pulled back on the drawstring of his bow. Oblivion rushed forward, both hands gripping the hilt of his sword, and swung it at Apocalypse. The entity blocked, turning forty-five degrees to meet Oblivion's blade with his own. With a twist of his arm, Oblivion found himself disarmed with Apocalypse's blade at his throat.

"You foolish boy! If you are of the Mars royal family then you should know the prophecy. You know very well that it shall be fulfilled." Apocalypse laughed, but his laughter was interupted by a sharp cry of pain as Sivu's arrow pierced the shoulder of his sword arm, causing him to drop his weapon. Oblivion reached quickly for his own sword and slashed at Dsanios, who was attempting to carry the severely injured Tiamatt. Dsanios hissed in pain and spat fire at Oblivion's feet before running away. Oblivion turned back towards Apocalypse who laughed as Sivu aimed another arrow and Kai put the blade of his battle staff to his throat.

"My primary goal is accomplished. I will return for her later!" he crowed and promptly vanished into thin air. As Apocalypse vanished, so did the monsters that served him.

Oblivion rushed back to Tiamatt and knelt beside her, searching for a pulse. Kai and Sivu waited anxiously.

"Her pulse is weak but she's still alive." Oblivion said quietly. Kai knelt besides him and began to examine her wound. The gash was just below her rib cage and was blooding profusely.

"It's pretty bad but I'll see what I can do." Kai said, placing his hands directly over the wound. "Man, I'm glad I studied healing magic. Esuna!' A blue aura surrounded his hands and the wound. After about thirty seconds, the glow dimmed and faded. "That should sterilize it. Curaga!" The blue aura reappeared and Sivu and Oblivion watched as the wound slowly began to close. "That should help for now. It will take a while for it to heal fully though." Sighed Kai.

Oblivion carried Tiamatt back to the Ragnorok, where a terrified Solix stood cowering. Kai lead the frightened bird back to his stable as Sivu and Oblivion took their friend to an empty sleeping quarter. Kai soon returned and bandaged her wounds.

"We shouldn't move her to much." Kai warned.

"'I agree. Her wounds are serious and we don't want to risk reopening them." Sivu added.

"We'll return her home to the Sleeping Forest." Said Oblivion, before leaving the room. Kai and Sivu followed him back to the cockpit and soon the Ragnorok was in the air. Flying slowing, they eventually reached the Sleeping Forest.


	7. The Sleeping Forest

Me: (sigh) I'm sorry I haven't updated the story for a long time but I had REALLY REALLY BAD writer's block and then got into writing a Tales of Symphonia story. That story isn't finished but I will try to restart FD so…um…yeah.

**Lloyd (ToS): Huh? What's going on?**

**Me: What the hell are you doing here?**

**Lloyd: What do you mean? I thought I was your muse?**

**Me: For If Only, yes. For FD, no. I have no muse for this.**

**Lloyd: Oh…I guess I'll just go then… (walks off back to ToS section.)**

**Me: (sigh) this is odd not having him as a muse but…this is Final Fantasy. Anyways, I would like to say I don't own FF. Only Tiamatt, Oblivion, Sivu, Kai, and Dsanios.**

"Amazing!" Sivu gasped as the group walked through the Sleeping Forest that protected the City of the Ancients. "This forest is said to be the guardian to the Forbidden City."

"Guardian? How can a forest be a guardian?" Kai asked as he carried the still unconscious Tiamatt in his arm and followed Oblivion into a large clearing where a house sat in the middle.

"Kjata, a materia summon is the guardian of the forest, therefore, he is also the guardian of the City." Stated Oblivion, walking up to the building. He examined the area near the door till he found a flimsy, blue plastic cover. "Please bring Tiamatt over here."

Kai carried her over to the door and Oblivion placed her hand upon the scanner. A light moved back and forth across the pad until a beep and a click was heard. Oblivion pushed the door open and held it to allow his friends to enter the house.

The interior was relatively simple. The large living room held two couches, a recliner, a coffee table, a television, and several large display cases full of various weapons Tiamatt had collected over the years. The kitchen, too, was fairly large, with a large dining table on one side of the room. A staircase went from the back of the kitchen down into the basement. A hallway near the living room had several bedrooms and a bathroom to the sides while the door at the very end lead to the stable where Solix stayed during the cold months.

Kai set Tiamatt down on one of the couches and checked her wounds. He noted that her leg wound had healed remarkably fast and removed the bandages that surrounded it. However, the wound to her side was serious and made the woman's breathing labored. Kai also noted that he could see the edge of the shard of blade that had lodged itself in her side but he couldn't remove it without further injuring Tiamatt. Sivu went into the kitchen and looked for ingredients to prepare a meal. Oblivion stood and looked at the weapons case. _These weapons, they're all from the Meteor Incident and the Sorceress Wars. _He opened the case and removed a long, wide edged sword.

"What are you doing?" Kai asked as he saw Oblivion remove the sword.

"This is the Buster Sword, originally owned by Cloud Strife during Meteorfall." Stated Oblivion, examining the blade momentarily before placing it back in the case.

"But that sword would be like what, a million years old?" Stammered Kai. "Why isn't rusted?"

"Tiamatt has obviously taken good care of these ancient weapons. But I wonder how she came across all of them?" the swordman replied.

Tiamatt moaned and opened her eyes slowly just as Sivu came in with a platter that held four bowls of soup. She tried to push herself into a sitting position but failed, gasping in pain as her side wound flared to life. Kai then had to help her sit upright and kept her steady as Sivu handed her a bowl of the fresh hot soup.

"Eat this. It should help you regain your strength." Sivu told her, standing over her to make sure she ate it. Her hands were shaky as she ate the soup but she eventually finished it.

"Thank you." She smiled, handing the empty bowl to the Yeria. "It was delicious."

Sivu smiled at the compliment and retrieved the others' bowls before returning to the kitchen to clean up. Tiamatt turned to look at Oblivion and noticed that he looked at her with worried eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"I…uh, it's nothing." Oblivion replied, averting his gaze. "Don't worry about it."

"You lying." Tiamatt said flatly, glaring at her friend. Oblivion looked up and flinched at the steely glare, but shook his head.

"Maybe later." The wolf stood up and left the house, leaving the other three to ponder over what he was hiding.

"Tiamatt, you need to rest." Kai told her as she continued to wonder what was wrong with Oblivion. She snapped from her trance and nodded. Kai then helped her return to lying down and he went to sit on the other couch, as she fell into an uneasy sleep.

_A man in a white lab coat with long black hair and glasses stood in front of a weak Tiamatt, a triumphant grin on his face. Tiamatt growled at the man but could do nothing as the sedative she had been given prevented her from being able to move. Around her, about thirty other people of a similar condition were being carried into an odd building. _

"_My precious specimen," the man cooed, running his hand down the side of her face. "You better survive this stage of the experiment. After all, you are one of the last of a dying species." _

_Tiamatt continued to growl, unable to do anything more then that as two of the man's assistants began to carry her into the odd glowing building, the evil scientist following close behind. They carried her into a large chamber full of capsules where the other people were being locked into. _

_She heard the hiss as her own capsule opened and the lab assistants placed her into the small container. The door closed and a warm green liquid like energy surrounded her, filling the capsule. Outside, the man laughed and the world went dark and silent…_

Tiamatt awoke with a start, her heart racing as the nightmare played through her head. _What was that? What was that place? Who was that man?_ Tiamatt sighed and tried to move but pain shot from her side. She clinched her teeth and continued to move till was sitting straight up. She then looked around the room and laughed silently at the scene.

Oblivion lay asleep in the recliner, his sword leaning against the side of the chair. Sivu had chosen to sleep on the floor, leaving Kai on the other couch where he was curled in a fetal position, sucking his thumb.

Tiamatt stood up and began to carefully move through the house towards the stairs. _If I can get downstairs then I should be able to take care of this wound. _She thought as she reached the stairs and began the descent, one step at a time. After five long minutes, she reached the bottom and palmed open a door, revealing her lab. Paper and machines were scattered everywhere but Tiamatt was able to cross the gap to a small room where a large chest sat. Opening it, she gazed at the glowing orbs that always felt so familiar to her. She rummaged through them till she found one in particular that for some reason was more precious to her then most of the others, its white glowing giving off a feeling of peace and comfort at she placed it into her arm. Immediately, the pain form her side subsided and she sighed in relief before returning upstairs.

"Tiamatt! What are you doing? You should be resting!" Sivu cried as he walked into the kitchen just as Tiamatt reached the final step. Sivu's cry was enough to wake the others and they rushed into the kitchen to see what caused the problem.

"What's going on?" Kai asked looking at his longtime friend before noticing Tiamatt standing not too far away." Tiamatt! You need to lie back down! We have to have you heal completely!"

"I feel fine. It doesn't hurt, honestly." Tiamatt replied quietly.

"But how? That wound you have is serious." Kai scolded, looking at Tiamatt in disbelief. "You shouldn't be moving at all."

"I'm fine. I promise. Besides, I've always been a fast healer. Even my leg is healed." Tiamatt shrugged, walking back to the living room, and sitting on the couch.

'Tiamatt, what are you hiding from us?" Oblivion asked sternly, sitting down across from her on the recliner. The woman blinked innocently, cocking her head to the side. "Tiamatt!"

She sighed and held up her arm, a faint white glow emanating from the materia in her arm.

"A materia? I didn't think materia had that kind of power." Sivu said, confused by the odd color.

"Normal materia do not possess the power to heal severe wounds like the one Tiamatt was inflicted with but this one is different. Its white glow is most particular." Oblivion noted.

"I always knew materia to be red, green, yellow, or blue. A white materia has to be something out of legend." Kai stated, recalling on past knowledge.

"White materia…" Oblivion muttered to himself. "Where did you find it?"

Tiamatt shook her head. "I don't know. I had it as long as I can remember, but I want to say Midgar.

"…" Oblivion said nothing as he stared at the glowing orb. "Why Midgar?"

"Isn't that where Meteor was stopped?" Kai asked as confused as the rest of the group.

"Yes. Meteor was stopped by Holy." Tiamatt replied, nodding. "Maybe…we should go to Edge and search the ruins."

"That sounds like a plan. But are you sure you're ok to travel?" Sivu asked in concern from Tiamatt's recent injury.

Tiamatt nodded, smiling as she stood back up. "I'll get a few supplies ready." She said and left the room. She soon returned with a small backpack and four small devices. "Here!" She threw on of the devices to each of her companions.

"These…these are Global Scanners! But…I've never seen this model before." Stammered Kai, examining the small computer like device.

"Of course not! It's my latest model!" Tiamatt laughed, activating the hologram system in the GS that showed the main menu.

"Wait! YOUR latest model? You mean you're the genius who created the GS system?" Sivu gasped in disbelief.

"Yeah. I actually designed a lot of the technology used like the Gscanners, the Holoprojectors, and the Blueprint security system." She replied rather proudly though slightly embarrassed as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"I know you were good with technology but I never imagined you made all this. I was wondering how you could afford all those things from the ancient days." Oblivion pointed out as Tiamatt proceeded to show all the features of her latest creation.

"Actually…I keep very little of the profit myself. Most of it goes to support the people of Saturn and Earth. Now, if you're all ready, " Tiamatt said, closing her GS, "can we please get going?"

Oblivion, Kai, and Sivu nodded and followed Tiamatt out to the waiting Ragnorok. Soon the engines were started and once the ship had it's coordinates programmed, was put on autopilot.

"I think I'm gonna lay down till we reach Edge." Tiamatt said with a yawn, standing up and walking towards the elevator which would take her to the lower levels. "I'll leave you to fly the ship, Oblivion."

Oblivion nodded and took her place at the pilot's seat as Tiamatt wen down the elevator and to an empty sleep quarter. She closed the door and sat down on the bed with a sigh, hand on her head._ I hope my headache goes away._ Tiamatt thought to herself as she laid down and went to sleep…

**Me: (sigh) again sorry for those who actually liked this story for the delay. I just kinda…lost my interest in writing it but it seems that I have now found my guardian spirit who continues to urge me to write. Thank you Valian and thank you to all the readers for your patience. Please review if you would like to chew me out for not updating or if you see somewhere I could improve or… just for encouragement. Onc more thank you!**


	8. Deja Vu

**Me: Ok, I'm back for another chapter, so without further delay, let the story begin!**

"Tiamatt." A voice said softly into her ear as she lay down on the soft mattress and a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her. "Please?"

"_I told you already, no!" Tiamatt scolded, trying not to give into the man behind her. "Wasn't it you that said we should get some sleep anyways?"_

"_But Tia!" the man whined, kissing the side of her neck. "I love you!" _

"_I thought we decided to wait till we could both escape. Besides, what if…" Tiamatt trailed off as the man leaned over her, looking at the woman with concerned green eyes._

"_I promise I won't let him hurt you again, Tia." The man whispered, his long silver hair casting a curtain over Tiamatt as she continued to worry. She looked up at him and smiled, kissing him lightly before he pulled her up towards him and embraced the woman. "I'm sorry I ever left in the first placed…"_

Tiamatt awoke in her room on the Ragnorok, the feel of the unknown man's lips still on her own lips even if it was only a dream. _Who is that man? I do I always dream about him?_ Sighing, She tried to sit up but her body wouldn't move even though there weren't any restraints. _What's going on? _She tried to yell but her mouth wouldn't move either.

_It's pointless…_A voice laughed.

_What the hell was that? _Tiamatt thought, beginning to panic, as she remained paralyzed.

How slow you have become Tiamatt. Do you not remember our fight? A shard from my sword was lodged in your side, allowing complete and utter control of you! 

_Acpololypse! You bastard! Release me now! _Tiamatt screamed, still unable to move as the being continued to laugh.

_I have no need for you right now anyways…" _Apocoplyse said, his voice fading away.

"What do you mean?!" Tiamatt yelled, startling herself as she heard her own voice. She sat up and looked around, still unsure about what had just happened but the room was empty. "At least I can move again. But…what did he mean?" She sighed and shook her head after a moment of not being able to think of an answer. "I guess I'll find out sooner or later."

Tiamatt stood up and stretched, testing her muscles that were moments ago unwilling to move. Once she was satisfied that everything was fine, she opened the door and walked into the main corridor of the Ragnorok. Tiamatt's mind continued to wander as she rode the elevator back to the cockpit and almost ran into Oblivion.

"I'm sorry. I was just coming to get you." Oblivion apologized. Tiamatt blinked in surprise as her concentration was broken and smiled.

"That's ok. I just woke up anyways." She grinned, taking her spot in the pilot's seat and switching off the autopilot.

She glanced at the controls for a moment before returning her attention towards the planet as she scanned for a clear landing area. A cliff overlooked the ruins of Midgar and with a slight bump, the ship landed and the engines died down. Tiamatt stood up and walked to the back of the ship, Oblivion, Kai, and Sivu following her.

"This is Midgar? I thought it was gonna be bigger!" Kai complained as he surveyed the ruins of the ancient city.

"Kai, this city is over a million years old, destroyed during Me- Tiamatt are you ok?" Sivu asked as he noticed that Tiamatt had spaced out, eyes unfocused as she looked at the city.

She could she it. The city when it was a busy metropolis, the biggest city in the world at that time. She could hear screams, many of people but some of monsters and of this odd moaning that made her head pound. A giant flaming ball of rock pressed down on the city, sending up vortexes of flame ripping through the plate to the slums below, killing many innocent lives.

From no where, a swirling mass of white energy raced under the moon-sized rock, cutting the vortexes and protecting the people of the city. But the rock continued to press downwards, ripping through the energy and recreating the tornadoes.

'_Holy isn't strong enough…" Someone muttered nearby…_

"Tiamatt!"

"What?" Tiamatt snapped from the strange vision and looked at Oblivion who was staring at her, hands on her shoulders.

"Tiamatt, what just happened?" Oblivion asked sternly, as Tiamatt tried to figure out herself what had happened.

"I…don't know." She muttered, shaking her head and removing Oblivion's hands from her shoulders. "I guess… I had a vision."

"…" Oblivion turned serious as he heard this.

"A vision? What of?" Sivu asked, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"Um…well, it looked like Meteorfall…" Tiamatt answered, unsure if her friends would suddenly think she was crazy after seeing something that happened a million years before. "It seemed so real. Like I was actually there."

"…" Oblivion turned away from Tiamatt, thinking over something as he stared at the ruins of Midgar. _Should I tell her now…about the prophecy?_

"Hey Oblivion! Come on!" Kai yelled, jumping down the side of the cliff as Tiamatt dove off and spread her wings, changing from vertical flight to horizontal as she flew towards the city. As Kai slid down the slope, he transformed into the four legged sea serpent form and once on level ground, bolted after the dragon woman as Sivu ran at his side as a cheetah like Yeria.

"I hope the prophecy is wrong…I hope, to Holy I hope, that I do not have to compete my task…"

**Me: Alright, I know that was short compared to the last chapter but oh well! Deal with it! Um…oh yeah! I would like to quickly mention a story that I.K.A Valian and I am writing called Battle Theater. BT is a place where characters from Video Games, O.C.s, or even Authors can fight. The first match is between Kratos Aurion(ToS) and Cloud Strife (FF7). Unfortunately, due to one of s rules, we can not post the new story up for three more days. But be watchful for this amazing story called Battle Theater written by well….Battle Theater! Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and hope you can enjoy the upcoming Battle Theater!**


	9. The Prophecy

**Me: Geez, at this rate, every other chapter is going to be long….OH well! Please enjoy the story!**

Tiamatt backwinged and landed at the ruined city's entrance, looking at the collapsed buildings before folding her wings along her back. Walking under on of the ancient gates to the slums, she peered upwards, catching a glimpse of the upper plate. Tiamatt once again spread her wings and flew through the gap to the upper part of the city. Debris was scattered everywhere in the ancient streets as she made her way towards the center of Midgar. A large building sat in the city's center, once the tallest building but now reduced to rubble. Tiamatt couldn't help but growl at the building as anger and hate for the ruined structure bubbled into her mind.

"I knew you would come here." A voice laughed. Tiamatt spun around to face Dsanios, twin blades drawn and ready. "It was as my master said would be."

"Dsanios!" Tiamatt growled, icy glare directed at the grinning man. Dsanios seemed to mock her with his grin, his sword hanging loosely at his side as he took a step towards her. "Why are you here? Why are you following me?"

"Now now Sister. Everything will be explained in due time. I was merely sent to retrieve you." Dsanios said with a smirk. "It is all to ensure Apocalypse's success."

"Success in what? Why won't you leave me alone?" Tiamatt shouted in frustration, taking a step back as Dsanios continued to walk towards her.

"Have you not figured it out?" He laughed. "Foolish Tiamatt, has your dear friend Oblivion not told you of your prophecy?"

"I'm the one asking the questions!" Tiamatt snapped. "What is this prophecy?"

"No! Tiamatt don't listen! This man is trying to trick you!" Shouted Oblivion, having finally caught up with her, Sivu and Kai at his side.

"Don't listen to him!" Dsanios mocked. "If there is someone you shouldn't listen to, then it him, your best friend Oblivion. He's been keeping secrets from you since the very beginning!"

"What?!" Tiamatt turned to Oblivion, face filled with shock. "Oblivion is this true?"

Oblivion avoided her gaze, looking down at the ground instead. "I'm sorry…" He muttered softly. He could hear her footsteps getting closer and felt a sharp pain on the side of his face as Tiamatt slapped him.

" I trusted you!" she yelled, Oblivion still not looking at her. "Now I find you that you've been lying to me the entire time!"

"I haven't lied to you. I just…I haven't told you everything." He said quietly. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"You didn't want to hurt me? If that were true then you would've told me instead of hiding it from me! So tell me, right here in front of everyone, what is it you've been hiding from me?!" Tiamatt yelled, taking a step back as Kai and Sivu gawked at her reaction. "If you don't then I'm sure Dsanios would be happy to inform me!"

"It would be no problem for me to tell you Tiamatt." Dsanios nodded, still grinning. _This is going better then expected. Soon my master will control the legendary Tiamatt._

Oblivion glared angrily at Dsanios, growling before glancing at Tiamatt, whose bright blue eyes were still focused into an angry glare. He sighed sadly before he finally looked Tiamatt in the eye. "The royal family of Mars are the sole guardians of a prophecy. This prophecy tells of an ancient warrior, lost in time, returning. But just as the warrior returns, so does an ancient evil, known simply as the Calamity. The prophecy tell us that this evil will gain control of the warrior who will then destroy all life."

"I've heard this prophecy before, back when I was little. But what does this have to do with me?"

"Tiamatt, you ARE the ancient warrior!" sneered Dsanios, watching as Tiamatt's look of confusion turned to fear.

"Yes, many things about you match that of the warrior. Though some of the prophecy is confusing." Oblivion nodded sadly. "That is not the problem though. The problem is that you are to destroy all life. That is why I was sent to kill you."

"What?! No, No! This can't be true! I would never do that! Oblivion please, you know I wouldn't do it! I won't let it happen!" She cried, shaking her head in denial as she pleaded with her friend who now had his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Oblivion, this is Tia we're talking about! She wouldn't destroy everything!" Kai yelled in Tiamatt's defense as her eyes widened in fear and Oblivion drew his sword.

"I know she wouldn't" Oblivion agreed, again refusing to look at Tiamatt directly. "But I'm afraid that she will be forced to against her will." He paused for a moment, listening to Dsanios laugh, as he looked his sword over. "I'm sorry Tiamatt, but…I must kill you."

"No…" She whispered, taking a step back. Her head started to pound suddenly and she grabbed head, screaming.

"…" Oblivion looked at her once more before rushing forward only to end up being blocked by a spell.

"Don't even think of interfering!" Shouted Dsanios, sword now drawn and at Oblivion's throat. Sivu and Kai tried to attack the dark man but a quick mutter froze them on the spot. Tiamatt let out another scream and stumbled, standing in a hunched position before straightening up.

"Tiamatt!" Oblivion shouted, knocking Dsanios' blade away with his own as he jumped to his feet and rushed to his friend. He grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly as he called her name. "Tiamatt! Please answer me!"

Tiamatt laughed and looked up at Oblivion with green silted eyes. Oblivion leapt back in surprise as she continued to laugh and turned away from her friends. "Tiamatt is gone. I'm afraid she is merely a puppet to be used as a weapon by me." Tiamatt sneered, glancing over her shoulder as she reached Dsanios and smiling but for a second, the smile flickered and the pain of the real Tiamatt showed through.

"Tiamatt! No! Please fight it!" cried Oblivion but his cry was ignored and where Dsanios and Tiamatt had stood now remained an empty space.

"She's gone…" Kai mumbled, shocked at the disappearing act.

"Dsanios you bastard! Bring her back!" Oblivion screamed throwing his sword into the air. It spun as it traveled back downwards and landed in the exact spot Tiamatt had stood minutes before.

Sivu stood silently, thinking of what had just occurred. Walking over to the sword and prying it from the ground, he handed the blade back to Oblivion. "We should give chase."

"No. I'll go alone. It's my fault she's gone." Oblivion muttered, looking at the sword in his hands. "She had trusted me and I broke that trust."

"Oblivion, it's not your fault. It's cause of that stupid prophecy! Now if we're going to rescue Tiamatt then we should all go together!" Kai scolded, just as worried about Tiamatt but without the guilt that plagued Oblivion.

"Kai is correct. We need to work together it we want to succeed." Sivu agreed. Oblivion looked up and after seeing determination in his friends' eyes, nodded.

"Thank you." He said quietly, turning back towards the edge of Midgar. "Let's return to the Ragnorok…"

As the three warriors started back towards the ship, Sivu spotted Tiamatt's pack on the ground and picked it up, a notebook falling out. Sivu picked it up, noticing that notes scribbled the entire inside of the book as well as what appeared to be dream records. Closing the notebook, Sivu returned it to the pack and followed Kai and Oblivion back to the Ragnorok.

Once back on the ship, Sivu shared his discovery with the others. The notebook told them of some of Tiamatt's abilities that she had discovered over the years and of strange dreams that Oblivion believed were actually memories. Stopping at the near by metropolis of Edge, they restocked on supplies and began their search.

It seemed like they had searched the entire planet as they chased rumors of Tiamatt and Dsanios causing havoc but almost always came up empty handed. Soon, sighting began to spread outwards throughout the Sol System as major leaders suddenly disappeared or were found murdered in their chambers. However the attacks were so random that there was no way to track the next attack until a rumor began to spread about the planned assassination of Tysil Granis, Saturn's ambassador. Soon, the Ragnorok was orbiting the ringed planet, Oblivion, Kai, and Sivu hoping to end the chase…

**I know, short chapter again but oh well. I think this is a good stopping point and sorry if any of it is confusing. Read and review please! Oh and look for Battle Theater coming soon by well….Battle Theater! The first match is Kratos Aurion vs Cloud Strife!**


	10. Granis and the Newcomer

_You…you were a friend of Tiamatt's correct? _The spirit asked, looking at a young man with blonde hair. The green glow of the Lifestream surrounded the both of them as they talked.

_Yeah, of course. Why? _The man asked. His long blonde hair was back in a ponytail as he looked at the spirit with blue eyes.

_Would you like to help your friend Hiro? _

_What kind of question is that? Tia's my friend! Of course I want to help. _Hiro retorted. _Geez Terran, why the sudden interest in Tiamatt?_

_The Calamity has returned. A small group of her friends are currently trying to stop her. I would have sent someone else but he will not fight Tiamatt even if she is controlled by the Calamity. That is why I am asking you. _Terran explained with a sigh, running a hand over his brown hair. _Will you accept?_

…..

Oblivion sat in the cockpit of the Ragnorok, easing the ship into Saturn's atmosphere. Kai was stretched over a row of seats, sleeping soundly. Sivu sat quietly, watching the plasma trails dance above the ship as they flew through the highest layers of the atmosphere. Soon, the Ragnorok had broken through the sea of clouds and the capital city of Kryian was visible. Dragons and winged humans flew through the air with grace while normal looking humans and visitors walked on the streets below.

"This is where Tia is from?" Gawked Kai, sitting up and looking out the window. "It's amazing why would she leave?"

"She didn't leave by choice Kai." Oblivion noted, landing the ship on a landing pad near the royal palace. "She was banned from Saturn."

"What? Why?"

"She…" Oblivion started stopping in front of the elevator leading down to the lower levels of the ship.

"Tiamatt was banned for the murder of the royal family." Sivu finished. Kai looked at his friend in shock.

"That doesn't sound like something Tia would do. How did the authorities know it was her and not someone else?" Kai asked, following his friends out of the ship.

"Your right. It's not like her." Oblivion agreed. "Tiamatt was taken in by the royal family when she was young. I'm guessing her life was somehow restarted because she grew up here. When she was in her teens, she was found covered in the blood of her adoptive family. They were relatively clean kills. No evidence could be linked to other suspects except for Tiamatt. Supposedly, her fingerprints were everywhere."

"Perhaps we should discuss our suspicions with Lord Granis before its too late." Sivu reminded quietly.

Oblivion and Kai nodded in agreement. The small group carefully manuvered around various vechiles before taking an elevator which connected the airport to the fort like palace. Kai, Sivu, and Oblivion all gaped at the building as they walked inside.

The walls, which appeared solid stone on the outside, allowed everyone to view the city of Kryian from the inside, while the large vaulted ceiling made even the quietest of footsteps echo loudly. On the other side of the large room was a recentionist desk. Oblivion walked up to the desk as Sivu and Kai followed.

The woman was in mostly dragon form, the transformation looking complete except that she stood upright and still had full use of her hands. She was dressed in elegent white robes, which covered her pale blue scales.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, Ma'am. We wish to see Tysil Granis immediately." Oblivion asked the dragon woman.

"I'm sorry but unless you have an appointment, then I can't allow you to see Lord Granis." She replied, shaking her head.

"Please tell him that Lord Silver of Mars has news of Tiamatt that he must hear immediately." Oblivion insisted, showing the royal emblem of Mars that was engraved on his hand. The woman's eyes widened as she nodded.

"I understand. Please, wait one moment." The dragon excused herself and walked through a pair of extravagantly craved doors that showed Earth's Lifestream spilting to give life to the other planets. After a moment, the receptionist returned and nodded the approval to enter.

Two guards stood outside the door and bowed their heads as Oblivion, Kai, and Sivu entered the royal chambers. The marble floor reflected everything in the room. A large oak desk sat near the back with a silver dragon leaning over it, looking over some paper, as a fire crackled behind him.

"Ah, Lord Silver! It is a pleasure to meet you. I welcome you and your companions to Kryian." Cried Granis happily, looking up from his work. "I hear you have news on my beloved Tiamatt is that correct?"

"Beloved?" Kai asked, looking shocked. "I'm sorry but I just can't imagine Tiamatt being with any one, let alone you."

"So she hasn't mentioned me? How sad." Granis mumbled. "I thought there was something between us…"

"Sir, have you heard the Calamity Prophecy?" Oblivion asked.

"What? Yes of course. Everyone has. What does it have to do with my Tia?" the silver dragon nodded.

"Lord Granis, I suspect that you most like grew up with Tiamatt. If that is so then you should know that she was not born into the royal family." Oblivion sighed, shaking his head.

"Yes, I know. She used to tell me of these strange dreams she used to have about being locked up and some creepy human taunting her. How I miss her…but I suppose she still hasn't forgiven me for when…" Granis sighed, eyes clouding over. "Even after I tried to show I was sorry be lessening her sentence from death to exile."

"this is just to freaky." Kai exclaimed, eyes wide. "you two didn't actually do anything did you?"

"Kai this is not the time nor the place!" Sivu scolded.

"No, not that I didn't try!" Granis grinned. "I still desire to be with her."

"pervert…" Kai mumbled, looking disgusted.

"Anyways…Lord Granis, we came to inform you that…" Oblivion sighed, filling the silver dragon in on what had happened.

"This is disturbing news." Granis growled, tapping his talons on the desk. "But it has cleared by a lot of things. Tiamatt has always possessed powers no one else possessed or could explain. She had no memory of how she got them and tried to ignore the fact that she was different. When she was first adopted into the royal family, she knew nothing but her name."

"Yes, that was the injury from our last battle." A female voice said coldly. "And I must thank you, Oblivion, for making my mission so much easier."

All four men turned to at the left side of the room. Tiamatt stood grinning, swords drawn and at her side. Dsanios stood patiently by her side, waiting for an order.

"Hm…for rulers at once. This is better then I thought." She sneered. "Pluto and Venus are already in turmoil from lack of leadership and Mercury has sworn an alliance to me."

"What?" Granis gasped, looking at Tiamatt in disbelief. "How could you kill those lords so quickly?"

"It was quite easy. After all, Tiamatt has powers that have been lost for thousands of years. It was nothing for me to get rid of those obsticles." Tiamatt grinned. "Now I will offer all of you what has been offered to the others. Will you join me and live or refuse my offer and meet your fate?"

"Tiamatt, why…" Granis started, coming out from behind his desk and approaching the woman.

"Quiet you idiot! Tiamatt is no more! There is only Apocolypse!" She crowed.

"This is nonsense! Release her now!" Oblivion orders, drawing his sword as Kai and Sivu followed suit.

"You fool! Do you really think you can command me, the great Apocolpyse, to do anything? I have waited many thousands of years for this body and I will not give it up." Tiamatt/Apocolpyse jeered, raising her swords. "It is too late to save Tiamatt, just as it is too late for you!"

Tiamatt lunged at Oblivion, grinning as she brought the blades down. Oblivion deflected the swords and tried to knock her out with the flat of his blade but she disappeared and slammed her elbow into his back, sending him crumbling to the floor. Standing back up, he swing at Tiamatt again but she leapt back, swing one of the blades which sent a wave of energy crashing into Oblivion, sending him into the wall. He slumped down to the floor and felt an invisible pressure on his chest as he was lifted off the floor and pressed against the wall.

Kai and Sivu were fighting Dsanios, trying to protect the cowering Granis. Dsanios charged at the pair, his human form melting away into four winged dragon with scarlet and ebony scales. As he fell on all fours, he unleashed a roar that shook the room.

"Granis, you're a dragon! Help us!" shouted Kai, using Wall to block one of Dsanios' attacks.

"I'm a politician, not a fighter! I can't even breathe fire!" the dragon replied, shivering in fear, making his voice shake.

'Useless old pervert! This is why I didn't want to become a lawyer." Kai mumbled to himself as he swung his staff as Dsanios who was busy burning Sivu's barrage of arrows.

Granis, seeing that there was a clear path out of his office, ran to the door. As the door flung open, a blonde haired man leapt into the room and upon seeing Oblivion and Tiamatt's fight, pulled a sword before aiding the wolf king.

"You! You're suppose to be dead!" Tiamatt growled at the newcomer.

"Tiamatt, fight it!" The man yelled.

Tiamatt snarled, and raised her swords, charging at the blonde swordman. They're blades locked as Oblivion crumbled to the floor, whatever strange magic that had been crushing him, removed as he tried to stand and rejoin the fight but failed and fell back down. The newcomer and Tiamatt were exchanging blows at an amazing pace, making Oblivion realize that Apocolypse was only toying with him, not using Tiamatt's full strength. Kai and Sivu's battle wasn't much better as Sivu tried to access a materia after he had used all his arrows.

"Ramuh!" Sivu yelled, a red orb glowing brightly.

The ground shook as a crack appeared in the floor. A bolt of lightning came up from the fissure and an elderly man appeared to rise from it. He held a staff from which lightning sparked from. Ramuh raised his staff above his head, lightning firing rapidly towards Dsanios who tried to dodge but failed. Ramuh, his work done, then disappeared in a flash of light as the dragon crumbled to the floor.

Struggling to his feet, Dsanios returned to his human form and pulled a small dagger from his pocket. It glittered dangerously in the light as it flew towards Oblivion but the blonde newcomer shot the knife down with Fire. Dsanios frowned before collapsing once more, weak from Ramuh's attack.

"You damn weakling, if you weren't so useful, then I'd just leave you here to die!" Tiamatt cried as she bounded over to the dark haired man and helped him stand up. "Don't think this is over. I will complete my mission!" She growled and once again, disappeared into thin air.

Granis peeked back into his now destroyed office, complete shock dominating his features. Kai shook his head as he noticed the cowardly dragon and walked over to Oblivion, who was weak from the strange magic that had been used on him. The newcomer was also examining Oblivion for wounds as Sivu watched.

"Who are you?" Sivu asked, glaring at the blonde swordsman. "Why did Apocolypse know you?"

"Forgive me, I'm an old friend of Tiamatt's. My name is Hiro, Hiro Aoyama." The blonde smiled.

"A friend of Tia's? Hm…well anyways, thanks for your help." Kai said, helping Oblivion stand up. "Hey Granis, you alright?"

"y-yes, I'm fine." Granis nodded, slowly walking back into the room, examining his office. "I can't believe what you said is true. This Apocolypse person really has taken control of Tiamatt."

"I'm sorry you got involved in this.' Sivu sighed. "But if you could excuse us, I believe we should find out more information on Mercury's alliance."

"Yeah." Oblivion agreed, wincing in pain. "We should talk to Fralex. In the meantime, Granis should remain here. I'll get some of my wolves here to act as bodyguards."

"Thank you Lord Silver. In return I will aid you in any way I can." The silver dragon replied, bowing his head.

"What about me? Can I help you guys?" Hiro asked as Oblivion, Sivu, and Kai began to walk from the room. "Tiamatt's my friend too."

"…" Oblivion looked at Hiro for moment, examining the newcomer carefully. "Follow us." Hiro blinked in surprise before nodding and following them back to the Ragnorok…

**I definitely owned you that one CR11! Hope you liked it! Anyways, read and review please!**


	11. Mercury

"So just what is your connection with Tiamatt?" Oblivion asked, Sivu piloting the Ragnorok.

Hiro sighed. "You probably won't believe me but I was friends with Tiamatt before she lost her memory, back during Meteorfall."

"You're right, it is hard to believe. Because if that is true, then you should be dead." Kai agreed, leaning against the back wall of the ship.

"Terran brought me back to help you guys out. He even made it so I'm like you guys but I have a dragon form." Hiro explained. "I wonder why Terran gave me long hair though, it's such a hassle."

"Who is Terran?" Oblivion asked, watching Hiro carefully.

"He's…one of the leading spirits in the Lifestream." Hiro said carefully. "A real stiff usually. I was surprised when he asked if I wanted to return to the world of the living."

"Hm…" the wolf continued watching the blonde haired swordsman out of the corner of his eye as he turned to face Sivu. "Sivu, how close are we to Mercury?"

"We're almost in orbit and it seems we're being hailed to land."

"Go ahead and land, but be cautious. Fralex is allied with Apocolypse." Oblivion reminded. Sivu nodded and took the ship down which was immediately surrounded Mercurian guards. Fralex could be seen in a mostly human form, only his flaming wings exposed.

"What brings the Lords Silver, Linos, and Thund to my planet of Mercury?" Fralex asked cooly as the four occupants left the Ragnorok. "And who are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter. You have information on where Tiamatt is and we want it!" Hiro said sternly, glaring at the phoenix.

"Brother, who are these people?" A small red haired boy stood nearby, a teddy bear tight in his arms, looking at the four armed men that stood before Fralex.

"Nightfire, this is grownup business. Why don't you go play with your toys?" the phoenix hissed, glaring over his shoulder at his younger sibling. Nightfire whimpered and nodded, running back inside. "Now, where were we?"

"Fralex, why have you allied with Apocolypse?" Oblivion growled, canine like fangs visible. "Answer me!"

"I had no choice. It was either join or be destroyed." Fralex grinned, yellow eyes flashing in the light of the nearby sun.

"You're lying between your teeth Fralex! Everyone know you desire power and you knew Apocolypse would help you." Kai growled.

"Doesn't everyone desire power? Isn't not just human nature but the nature of every species to desire strength?" the corrupt phoenix sneered.

"No, many do not desire power but must hold it for the good of others. Power is merely a choice!" stated Hiro. "I should know."

"Humph, whatever!" Fralex replied.

"That's exactly what I expected from you." Oblivion mumbled quietly.

"What was that?!" Fralex snapped, flaring out his wings angerily.

"Royal Guards of Mercury, why do you follow your current lord when he is allied with a being that will destroy this world and the entire Sol System? Join me in removing your corrupt king and I will ensure that Mercury remains safe and free. Do you accept?" Oblivion turned and made eye contact with the several dozen guards that surrounded his group. Several shuffled their feet uncomfortably till what appeared to be the captain of the gaurd stepped forward and pointed at Fralex.

"Men, arrest lord Fralex immediatly."

The phoenix backed up as his men turned on him, before leaping into the air in a flash of flames and going full phoenix. Several guards leapt into the air after him and blocked his escape while also casting stop. Soon Fralex was restrained and being led away. Nightfire, who had watched the whole incident stepped forward.

"What are you doing to Brother?"

Hiro knelt beside the child and put a hand on his shoulder. "Fralex has done some bad things. He's in trouble now but you and everyone else are safe now."

"But what about Daddy? Brother promised to bring Daddy back!" Nightfire sobbed. A blonde woman then came out, numerous bruises visable on her face and arms, looked at the Ragnorok group curiously and then at Fralex before she realized what had happened. Nightfire clung to the woman till she picked him up and he cried into her shoulder. "Mommy, where's Daddy? Brother said I could see Daddy!"

"Nightfire, your father is gone. He can't come back." At this, the young phoenix cried harder. "Shh, Nightfire, I'm still here and the man is right. We're safe now." Nightfire seemed to quiet down a little and the woman then turned her attention to Oblivion, Kai, Sivu, and Hiro. "Thank you for your help. Fralex killed the previous king who was my husband and obviously, his and Nightfire's father. Now that he no longer holds power, hopefully we can return to our peaceful lives instead of searching for this legendary orb that Apocolypse mentioned."

"I see." Oblivion nodded. "I'm glad we could be of help and I wish you and young Nightfire the best of luck. Now if you escuse us, we must leave." Oblivion turned back towards the Ragnorok but Hiro was still standing near the queen, lost in thought.

"An orb? It can't be the black materia can it?"

"Hiro!"

The blonde snapped from his thoughts and rushed towards the ship, waving at Nightfire and his mother. "Bye!"

"Bye bye mister!" Nightfire yelled, waving back as Hiro disappeared back onto the ship and the Ragnorok took off.

"So now where?" Kai asked as he spread out across a row of seats.

"I'm not sure. All we know now is that Apocolypse is looking for something but not what that something is." Oblivion sighed. "I was thinking we should actually take a small break to visit our families. I haven't seen my wife or son in months."

"Awe! I didn't know you had a kid too Oblivion!" Kai laughed. "What about you Sivu? You got family?"

"I'm engaged." the yeria answered simply.

"Hey Hiro, did you have anyone once?"

Hiro sighed and smiled sadly. "Yes. A long time ago I did but she has returned to the Lifestream like others from my time."

"I'm sorry." Kai muttered.

"Don't worry about it. You guys go ahead and visit your families." Hiro answered, shaking his head. Oblivion nodded and reset the cooridinates for Mars.

"Daddy!" a little brown haired boy ran up to Oblivion, who had knelled down to catch his son in his arms as a dark haired woman approached the wolf lord.

"Marth! You've gotten so big since I last saw you." Oblivion laughed picking the child up as the woman embraced him before turning towards his friends. "This is my son, Marth, and my wife, Liz."

"It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am." Sivu bowed his head slightly, Hiro and Kai following suit.

"The same to you." Liz nodded. "Wil, how long will you stay?"

Oblivion sighed and stopped tickling a giggling Marth to look at his wife. "I'm afraid not long. Apocolypse is still loose and it's my fault. I have to fix my mistake and help Tiamatt."

"The ancient warrior? Tiamatt is her? Oblivion, why didn't you do what you originally set out to do in the first place?" Liz scolded.

"Liz, she saved me. Even after I tried to kill her. She still risked her life to save mine. I couldn't do it."

"You tried to kill Tia?" Hiro growled, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Is it because of what she is? What she was made into?"

"Hiro what are you talking about? I am a prophecy keeper. I was sent to kill Tiamatt before she could destroy everything. And what do you mean by made into?" the wolf king retorted, looking confused as he set Marth down.

"It's nothing. Just something from our past. Still, I never thought that She would return but i wonder why the alias."

"She? Hiro what do you know about this?" Kai asked. Hiro sighed and shook his head. "Tell us."

"No, Tia will tell you once the Calamity is removed. I don't even know what all happened to her during the experiments or after I died but I know she has a lot of guilt and pain because of it."

"...I think I know a little about what you are talking about." Oblivion said, before sighing. "It late we should get our rest and go see Kai's family tomarrow." The others nodded and followed the wolf family to some spare rooms to use for the night.

The next day was spent as Oblivion said the day before, visiting Kai's family. Quiet Jo clung to his father's leg as he obsevered the strangers that Kai had brought home. But just like on Mars, the gorup didn't stay long and after a short visit on Uranus, recieved a message from Granis on Saturn telling the warriors that a strange fortress was found on an asteroid, along with it, swarms of Shadows. With that information, the Ragnorok was set for the strange asterroid...


	12. The Dark Fortress

The fortress was massive in size, easily as big as the palace on Saturn. It black gates swung slowly open, revealing a crowd of roaring Shadows. Oblivion, Hiro, Kai, and Sivu didn't even pause as they rushed into battle. But with each monster killed, two more seemed to take its place and the group soon noticed that it wasn't only Shadows that they were fighting.

"We will not allow you to interfer with Mother's plans." A strange creature growled. His mutated form looked slightly loinish but he had bat like wings, four arms, and a bladed, dragon like tail. "She has waited many years for the Cetra's body and we will not let you take the host away."

"How dare you speak of Tiamatt as if she was merely a tool!" Hiro roared, swinging at the creature but it merely laughed and took to the air. The blonde growled angerly and revealed red dragon wings as he leapt into the air. "I'll kill you for what you've done to Tia!"

"Hiro!" Oblivion cired out but Hiro was already chasing after the creature, not noticing that similiar montsters were approaching him. "Damn it! Odin!"

An orb shot from Oblivion's hand and in a flash of light, a strange horned knight on a six legged horse apppeared. Odin urged his steed forward, slashing at Shadows with his sword and taking out a few of the creatures as well. Sivu and Kai soon got the idea and with in momments, the giantic man known as Titan was hurling large chunks of earth at the Shadows as Ramuh blasted his enemies with lightning. Hiro had gone into a full dragon formand was attempting to fight off several of the mutated monsters by himself till Oblivion and the others could reach him. After a couple of them were illed, the creatures retreated, leaving Oblivion and the others with a mostly clear path to the fortress. Only one thing blocked their path, Dsanios.

"Well well, it seems you have found us. However, though you have put must effort into this, I'm afraid everything you've done was useless. Already Mother is preparing for the Reunion. Soon everything will be hers and this pitiful set of planets will perish."

"what do you mean by Mother?" Oblivion asked, raising his blade as Dsanios just smirked.

"The Calamity, Jenova. Apocolypse is merely an alias but Mother has found that taking her true form allows her more complete controll of that stubborn Cetra."

"What the hell is a Cetra?" Kai yelled, Ocean's Flame in his hands and ready. "What the hell is up with all the mind games?"

"I don't have time to mess with you but i will leave you a gift." Dsanios growled, raising an arm towards the sky. An orb raced from his palm and within seconds a roar filled the air followed by the appearance of a large black and grey dragon. "Sin, kill them." Dsanios disappeared, leaving Oblivion, Hiro, Sivu, and Kai to all face the dragon.

"I never thought I'd see Bahahmut sin again." Hiro muttered before facing the others. "You guys go inside and find Tia. I'll hold off Sin."

"Hiro,"

"Go damn it! I can handle myself." the blonde yelled, leaping at Sin.

Oblivion blinked in shock before nodding and signalling for the others to follow him. After carefully dodging the dragon's claws, fangs, and tail, they found themselves inside and staring at a strange pit. Looking over the edge, a strange green river could be seen flowing down below.

"Lifestream." Sivu noted watching a couple loose stands of the liquid like spirit energy twirl in the air. "I've heard of this but never thought I'd see it."

"Come on, let's keep moving." Sivu looked up at Kai and Oblivion who had crossed the pit and now waited for him outside of a new door.

The new room was actually a long corridor, empty of life and any sort of object. Oblivion glanced around the hallways before taking a step forward and having to leap back with a yelp as a dart flew right past him. Picking up the dart, he noticed an odd clear liquid on the projectile's tip.

"Posion.Guess we'll just have to run it won't we?" Oblivion threw the dart to the side and took a dep breath before sprinting down the corridor, the posioned darts barely missing him. Finally when he reached the safety of the other ened he turned to see Kai and Sivu calmly walking towards him, a magic barrier shimmering as the darts were deflected. "You can cast Wall?! Why didn't you tell me?"

Kai shurgged. "I was gonna but you were already running down here."

Oblivion rolled his eyes with a scowl and opened the next door. The group procedded through many more rooms filled with traps, including one where Sivu turned into his yeria form to absorb the lightning that would have killed Oblivion or Kai. Finally they reached the final room but with it, were hundreds of Shadows and more of the mutated creatures, a single door visable behind them.

"Oblivion, we'll hold them off. You go help Tiamatt ok?" Kai said, pulling Ocean's Flame once more.

Oblivion muttered his thanks as he nodded and slashed madly trough his enemies as Kai and Sivu covered him from most attacked. Finally Oblivion slammed into the door which burst open before slamming shut behind him. He stumbled before regaining his balance and looked up. Tiamatt stood silently, eyes still green slits as a strange new woman grinned at Oblivion. She was almost a mirror image of Tiamatt but her hair was silver and her skin an unnatural white but she had the same green slit eyes. Oblivion also noticed a pair of odd wing like limbs that were on the woman's shoulders.

"How good of you to join us Oblivion. Shall I give you the pleasure of dying now or after you witness my Reunion?" the woman asked, snake like eyes glittering in the dark room. She laughed as the black sword that had been used by Apocolypse appeared in her hand and Oblivion drew his own sword...


	13. Final Battle

"You don't honestly think you can defeat me do you?" the pale woman asked, holding the black sword loosely at her side. "True that in this body, I do not possess all of Tiamatt's powers but i do hold a few along with all of her precious memories. This body is more then strong enough to kill you with."

"Who are you?! What did you do to Tiamatt?" Oblivion yelled, glancing at an unresponsive Tiamatt. He watched as Tiamatt laughed.

"Mother will make everything right. She will destroy the weak and give us a new life, a new planet all our own."

"Tia snap out of this!" Oblivion yelled as the puppet continued to laugh before turning his attention to the grinning woman that Tiamatt had called "Mother". "You! You will die for this!"

The pale woman laughed, her eyes still glowing strangly in the darkness. "Try your best."

Oblivion raced towards her and swung down only to be blocked. He tried again and again, trying to land a blow in his rage but none of his attacks hit. Jenova was on the defensive and was grinning before she blocked once more and twisted her own sword, knocking Oblivion's arm to the side and kicking him in the chest.

The wolf fell back, his breath forced from his lungs from the attack. Oblivion stood up, only to be knocked back down as Jenova rammed her shoulder into him and sent him sprawling on the ground. Jenova kicked his sword from his hands before putting a foot on his chest.

"I knew you were pathetic. You can't even protect your friends. Now you will die for trying to interfer with my Reunion." Jenova snarled, pressing down on the wolf's chest with her foot, causing him to gasp for breath before the foot was removed briefly to deliver a quick kick into his ribs. The pressure was once more applied to his chest and he swore he could feel his ribs start to crack as his vision blurred before the weight on his chest was suddenly removed.

Oblivion's vision cleared and he coughed, spiting up blood before trying to regain his breath and looking at what had happened. Tiamatt stood gasping, bloody swords at her side as Jenova's body lay headless nearby. She gave a small smile, eyes once more their natural blue, as Oblivion stood up and retrieved his sword before walking over to his friend.

"Thank you. You've saved my life again." He laughed before he noticed the Tiamatt was flinching. "Are you ok?"

"I... I think so." the woman stammered slowly. Suddenly, Tiamatt screamed, grabbing her head as her swords fell to the floor. But as suddenly as it had started, her screaming stopped and she stared blankly at the floor.

"Tiamatt, are you..." Oblivion began, taking another step towards her. Tiamatt quickly picked up her swords and raised them to a fighting position while still looking at the ground.

"You really are a fool Oblivion. You don't honestly think I would go down so easily. I control Tiamatt and have waited too many years for this to let it be ripped from my grasp once more." Tiamatt looked up, revieling the green slit eyes yet again. "Are you willingly to kill your best friend to save this pathetic system of planets?" she taunted before launching at Oblivion.

The ringing of metal on metal rang through the chamber as Oblivion blocked the first sword before turning slightly to block the second. He then tried to slash at Tiamatt but she disappeared only to reappear behind him and throw him into the air. Tiamatt disappeared once more, this time above Oblivion, and slammed him to the ground with the back of her heel. He slowly got back to his feet only to be kicked back into the air and face a whirlwind of blades as Tiamatt spun in mid air with her twin blades.

"I always knew you were weak but this is rediculous. Are you holding back because you have hope that Tiamatt will come back?"

Oblivion growled angrly as he stood back up and charged at Tiamatt but she just grinned as a small orb in her arm glowed and the ground beneath him became slick with ice. Digging his sword into the ice, Oblivion canceled his momentum and looked up to have a fire ball slam into him, melting the ice around him. _I can't last much longer at this rate. I need to destroy that shard that in her side. That should free Tiamatt. _

Oblivion groaned as he cast Curaga, healing his burns before charging once more, his sword now glowing gold. Tiamatt blocked but Oblivion's sword kept going, shattering one sword only to be stopped by the second. Throwing down the broken sword, Tiamatt thrust her remaining sword forward as Oblivion swung at her side. Both of them grinned as they hit their intended targets...


	14. Heavy Price

A sound like breaking glass was heard as the shard embedded in Tiamatt's side broke and fell to the ground. Tiamatt stumbled, dropping her sword as she regained her sense as something fell to the floor and gasped in pain. Her vision cleared only to take in large amounts of red as blood seeped profusly from Oblivion who had fallen to the floor. He continued to gasp in pain and flinch as he lost blood at an amazing pace but smiled as his friend's eyes returned to normal.

"No...this is wrong. It should have been me!" Tiamatt cried as she fell to her knees beside the dyying wolf. "Please, Oblivion hold on. I'll heal you." She sobbed accessing a materia but Oblivion grabbed her wrist.

"Tiamatt, its ok. Please don't worry about it."

"What do you mean 'don't worry about it'? You're dying! What else do you want me to do?!" She cried, her tears mixing with the blood on the floor. "You expect me to sit here and watch my best friend, no, my brother, die right in front of me?!"

"A brother? Do you really consider me a brother Tia?" Oblivion asked weakly. Tiamatt nodded, her face streaked with tears. "Then please, let me die. This feels right, like it was supposed to happen."

"Oblivion..."

"Tiamatt!" Kai yelled but fell silent as he realized what had happened and Sivu and Hiro entered the room. "No..."

"Tiamatt, I think...I can still help you. Please give me my sword." Oblivion asked. Tiamatt slowly handed the dragon hilted sword to the wolf, unsure of what he was going to do as he began to write runes on the blade with his own blood. "This sword is rightfully yours Tiamatt." Oblivion said as his body began to dissolve into Lifestream but instead of floating off to rejoin the planet, Oblivion was being absorbed by the sword. "Please, take care of yourself Tia." the group looked in teary eyed shock as Oblivion closed his eyes and allowed the rest of his spirit to be absorbed into the sword. Tiamatt grabbed the hilt, feeling a strange yet comforting energy flow from the weapon as she stood up.

"Let us leave this foul place." Tiamatt said quietly, walking between Kai and Sivu and right past Hiro who looked at the woman in concern.

The fortress was ravaged with death though it appeared many of the strange creatures had escaped. Tiamatt stopped outside the gates, glaring coldly at the crumpled form of Bahamut Sin, his red eyes now dim. As she walked past the dead dragon, she spit fire in its face.

"Tiamatt are you ok?" Sivu asked, worry showing clearly on his face. Tiamatt looked down, her tears mixing with the bloody mud.

"...I've lost my best friend and it's all my fault. I killed him..." Tiamatt sobbed, clutching the hilt of the sword in her hand tightly. Kai began to step towards her but Sivu stopped him and shook his head. "I...I have to leave. Thank you for everything." She said, giving a small sad smile before leaping into the air.

"Tiamatt!" Hiro called after her but she ignored him as she flew back to the Ragnorok and noticed Saturn war ships approaching. By the time Hiro and the others had reached the ships, Tiamatt had taken the Ragnorok. "Damn it Tiamatt. Don't do anything stupid."

**One Week Later...**

Tiamatt lay in the grass, eyes closed as she listened to the forest. Oblivion's sword stood upright, stuck in the ground beside her as she had one hand on the hilt. Sighing, she opened her eyes and looked over to a spot in the trees.

"Why do you hide?" she asked. "You're that blonde man from the asteroid, what do you want?"

Hiro stepped forward, rubbing the back of his neck. "I never was able to to hide from you Tia!" He laughed only to receive a confused look from Tiamatt that changed into an angry glare.

"Why won't you leave me in peace?" She growled, laying back down in the grass. Hiro merely sighed and sat down beside her. "Are you deaf brat? I told you to leave!"

"No you didn't. You only asked why I wouldn't leave." Hiro laughed, leaning back on his hands. "geez, I can't believe how much I actually miss how you used to always call me a brat."

"..." Tiamatt closed her eyes, saying nothing.

"You don't remember me do you?" Hiro asked but Tiamatt didn't respond. "You used to call me your little brother too and always were there to look after me till you had to leave. You also used to pat my head all the time too even though you knew I hated that."

Tiamatt opened her eyes and looked at the sky. "Hiro correct?" the blonde nodded. "You seem like a nice guy and all but please stop making up these lies and go home."

"No. I'm not leaving. Besides it not like I have a home to go to anyways. And I'm not about to let my sister continue to torment herself for things she had no control over." Hiro shouted, glaring at Tiamatt with defiance. "All you are doing is working yourself into a depression and I don't want to lose the last of my family."

"Are you calling me a coward?" Tiamatt growled, glaring at the man out of the corner of her eye. "Do you honestly think that I would kill myself to end everything I've been through?"

"No of course not Tia but you keep blaming yourself for things that aren't your fault."

"I killed Oblivion, Hiro. It was my sword that killed him. I didn't even try to save him as he lay bleeding on the ground. I killed my best friend, my brother, with my own hands. I've killed many innocent lives Hiro, many proud and powerful rulers and people who had nothing to do with this war. I killed thousands of innocent lives and now wish to pay for my crimes in solitude." Tiamatt said quietly, crying silent tears. "I'm asking you, please leave me alone."

"Tia, I can't do that. I don't abandon my friends." Hiro sighed sadly.

"Hiro, Jenova is still alive. She's going to come after me again. I don't want anymore people to die because of me."

"I don't care! Let Jenova come back Tia cause she's not getting you. I'll protect you like you tried to protect me. Kai and Sivu will help too." Hiro cried as Tiamatt just looked at him.

"...can you tell me about my past?"

"What do you mean Tiamatt?" Hiro asked, confused.

"You knew me before I lost my memory. If you can tell me about my past, about why I am the way I am then you can stay." Tiamatt sighed, still looking at the swordsman.

"I'll help you all I can Tia." Hiro nodded.

Tiamatt sighed again and looked back at the sky before closing her eyes again. "Thank you, Hiro." Hiro smiled as he laid down in the grass beside her, unaware of the fact that she shivered suddenly and her eyes snapped open once more, strange words going through her head.

"Your destiny has always been to serve as my vessel, created by a fool of a human that failed in harnessing my powers. You are nothing more then a puppet..."


	15. A New Threat

Tiamatt was cleared of the charges of murder that had been place on her after the defeat of Apocolypse who was revealed as Jenova. She remained in the ancient forest, her only companion being Hiro who told her what he could of her past. Kai and Sivu, though they never truly forgot their friends on Earth, focused mainly on their own worlds and thoughts of Tiamatt and Hiro were pushed to the back of their minds. The enitre Sol system was in relative peace. Mercury had recently announced that Nightfire Wilex had claimed his spot as king of the Phoenixs while Mars honored Marth Silver. Josin Linos helped his father Kai in planetary affairs, often acting as an ambassador, one of his assignments being an alliance with Mars and Mercury. Almost all thoughts of the prophecy were forgotten...

**20 years after the Prophecy War...**

_A young woman of about 23 stood unconcious in a large metal cylinder with a small glass window, a strange liquid green energy surrounding her. 29 other similair cylinders surrounded hers as a flight of stairs split them into two equal groups of 15. At the top of the stairs was a large metal door, the painted letters above it blurry and unreadble as a green light glowed through the window of the locked door. _

_"Where am I? What is this place?" The same woman that was in one of the chambers stood at the foot of the stairs. However, she appeared to be a couple years older and wore a white tank top and blue jeans. Her long light brown hair was restrained in a loose ponytail leaving a few stray strands of hair framing her face as her nearly electric blue eyes scanned the room._

_She walked slowly up the stairs, looking at the tanks curiously but never truly seeing what was inside. If she had, her eyes would have met those of deformed and mutated humans except for the one that looked like herself. But the woman did not and continued up the stairs, something seeming to call to her as she got closer to the door. Finally she reached the top and reached for the handle but as her fingers where about to grasp the handle, everything disappeared..._

Tiamatt's bright blue eyes snapped open and she bolted up, her mind racing from the odd dream. She looked at her surrounding and sighed as she realized that she had fallen asleep on the soft grass in a clearing near her home. Standing up, she took a deep breath and absorbed the scents of the forest. Smiling slightly, Tiamatt picked up the Oblivion Blade and felt a wave of thoughts enter her mind.

_You fell asleep again didn't you? _Oblivion laughed but stopped when she didn't respond. _Is something wrong?_

**I had the dream again. Everything was clearer this time except...**

_Except what?_

**The locked door, its letters are still blurry and I can never get far enough to see what is inside.**

_Hmm..._

**What is it?**

_Don't worry about it. I'll tell you later. _With that, Oblivion fell silent and Tiamatt swung the sword onto her back.

"Tiamatt! Where are you?" Hiro's voice echoed through the forest but Tiamatt didn't answer back.

Instead she took yet another deep breath and closed her eyes, simply enjoying the scents and sounds of the forest. But something wasn't right A strange, somewhat familair scent caught her attention and she froze. It was human, yet it was wolf. Friend, yet...enemy. It was...

The cold steel barrel of a revolver was pressed against the back of her neck as she began to reach for her sword once more. A small click signaled that the weapon was loaded.

"I will finally avenge my father." A voice growled from behind Tiamatt who turned her head slightly to see a dark haired man that held the gun.

"Marth, what brings you here?" Tiamatt asked simply as Marth glared at her.

"You killed my father Tiamatt. Now you will pay for what you did." Marth snarled revealing canine fangs.

"...I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. I wasn't myself."

"Shut up!" the young wolf growled, trigger finger twitching. "You knew exactly what you were doing! You claimed him as your friend but murdered him and now wear his sword as a trophy!"

Tiamatt looked down sadly, fighting back tears as she grabbed the hilt of the Oblivion Blade and slowly drew it. "What aweful lies fill your head." Tiamatt carefully turned and held the sword out to Marth. "Do you wish to speak with him? Do you want to speak to your father?"

Marth looked at her in confused anger as Tiamatt continued to hold the sword out to him. "Is this some sort of sick joke? My father is dead and it's your fault." He shouted angerily, pushing the hilt away, unbalancing the sword in Tiamatt's hands.

The sword slipped out of her hands and fell to the ground, slicing open her palms. She winced in pain as blood seeped from the wound and muttered something quietly to stop the bleeding before she reached for the blade.

"I'm tired of your game. This end's now!" The bullet flew from the barrel of the gun towards Tiamatt who was just starting to stand back up with the sword in hand but the bullet never hit its target and instead buried itself in the soil.

Marth looked around in confusion for the missing warrior seeing nothing till he felt a slight breeze as something passed him and he spun around to meet it but saw nothing yet again except a slight blur.

"Damn! She used Haste!" Marth cried in frustration as he felt Tiamatt race past once more. Marth fell to the ground suddenly, clutching his chest in pain as he gasped for breath.

"I will not kill you but please heed my warning and leave me alone." Tiamatt said, her voice surrounding Marth as he slowly got back to his feet, still clutching his chest with one arms as a he held his gun in his other arm and a small green orb began to glow in his arm.

"Quake!"

The ground shook violently, the tremors worsening every second. Marth stood fast, keeping his balance as the clearing rumbled around him. Tiamatt was forced to stop running as she lost her balance and fell forward. The spells job down, the tremors died down as Tiamatt to stand back up but a bullet bit into her right leg. She turned to face Marth who now had the gun aimed at her head.

"Are you truly kill me Marth?" Tiamatt asked as he glared at her over the barrel of his gun. She turned her head slightly as a strange rustling came from the bushed. The Shadow's scent putting her on full alert. _It can't be...They were all suppose to have been destoryed. How can they be back unless...please let me be wrong. _"Run!"


	16. Return of the Shadows

The Shadow burst from the undergrowth, screeching as it charged at Marth. The wolf swung around to meet it, rounds flying at the creature, causing to fall to the ground before it returned to its feet. Tiamatt struggled to stand her wounded leg and muttered a quick spell to dull the pain as she picked up her sword and more Shadows raced out of the forest. Blue flames surrounded her blade as she gripped the hilt tightly before swingin it in a wide circle, casuing any Shadow that made contact with the Oblivion Blade to burst into ash.

"What the hell are those things?" Marth shouted as he shot down another Shadow. Tiamatt edged towards him, cutting down monsters on her way till she stood beside him.

"We called them Shadow. Your father and I fought them back during the war." She replied, another creature melting away into the shadows but more continued to appear.

"Shit! I'll call a truece if you help me. Deal?" Marth asked as he paused to reload his weapon and Tiamatt blocked any oncoming attacks.

"As long as you don't shoot me in the back or anywhere else. I'm in!" Tiamatt smirked. "Damn, there's too many! Hold them off for a minute!" She struck down another Shadow before putting the Oblivion Blade into the ground and going into a meditation like state with her eyes closed.

"What the?! This isn't the time to take a nap!" Marth shouted angerly, questioning her actions.

No sooner had he said that though when Tiamatt's eyes snapped open, her normally electric blue eyes now crytal clear. As her eyes opened, a huge icicle enveloped her and in a brillant flash of light, the icicle exploded. A young woman with strange blue skin and blonde, hip length hair had replaced Tiamatt, an odd crystal on her head as she took a step forward, freezing the ground beneath her. Raising her hands above her head, a ball of light blue light formed in her palms before flinging her arms forward, freezing everything in her path. Shiva smiled softly at the frozen Shadows as Marth gawked at the bare skinned Guardian Force. The ice maiden croseed her arms over her chest, a ring of sharp ice crystals forming around her before she flung her arms out once more. The ice spears shot from Shiva, hitting the frozen Shadows which shattered from the blast. Her work doen, Shiva knelt on teh snow covered ground and was enveloped by another icicle. With another flash, Tiamatt reappeared and stood up, examining the work of her GF.

A few of the Shadows had managed to escape Shiva's attack but with Marth's help, they were quickly exterminated. Tiamatt and Marth watched, out of breath, as the last of the monsters disappeared in the shadows, leaving an empty but muddy clearing. Marth tried to take a step but slipped on the muddy ground.

"UGH! First monsters now mud! This sucks!" Marth cried as he slowly and cautiously got to his feet. Tiamatt tried to repress a snicker as she looked at the mud coated wolf. "You're not helping you know?"

"Tiamatt!" The woman turned as her name was called to see Hiro. "Huh? Marth? what's he doing here? What happened?"

"I'll explain later. Let's return home first." Tiamatt answered. Hiro nodded as Tiamatt turned to Marth. "Even though you tried to kill me, you are welcome to come with us. After all, you are Oblivion's son."

"Uh...thanks." Marth blinked in surprise before following the Cetra to a different clearing where a house and large red ship sat. "Whoa! That's cool!"

"Hm, oh the Ragnorok? Yes, I guess it is impressive for a ship that was built during the Sorceress wars. I only wish I could locate the two sister ships though." Tiamatt sighed, approaching the house and palming the door open. "Marth, go clean yourself up. I don't want mud all over my house."

"Ok but where's your bathroom?"

Tiamatt pointed down the hallway towards the bathroom as she sat down and began to examine her leg. Marth nodded and disappeared as Hiro looked at his friend curiously.

"What happened Tia?"

"He tried to kill me for killing Oblivion. He would have succeeded if the Shadows hadn't appeared." She explained, casting Curaga and watching as the spell pushed the bullet out of her leg as it healed the wound. "You know what that means don't you Hiro?"

The blonde nodded sadly. "Jenova."

"She's going to try to come after me again. She's going to try that Reunion thing again." Tiamatt sighed, leaning back on the couch. "You should leave before its too late and you get hurt."

"I thought that I already told you I'm not leaving and there's no way you can get me to leave." Hiro said stubbornly, standing in front of her and crossing his arms. "You're stuck with me till the end Tia."

"...you really are a brat." Tiamatt sighed, closing her eyes as she leaned her head on the back of the couch. She felt Hiro sit down beside her but ignored in and within a moment was asleep.

_Tiamatt cringed, rubbing her arm where several needle marks were visible along with an odd clearish green liquid. She tried to stand up but the sediative she had been given hadn't completly worn off yet and she stumbled, falling into the wall behind her._

_"Damn it!" Tiamatt screamed as she tried to stand again, only to fall forward. Her legs felt numb, like they weren't even there but at least her arms worked and she was able to push herself into a sitting position. _

_"Tiamatt!" the woman looked up to see a young boy run at her. He smiled till he noticed something was wrong and stopped in front of her. "Are you ok?" _

_"I'll be fine. Don't worry, just give the sedative a little more time to wear off and then we'll go play ok? Any game you want too." the woman smiled but her eyes held a different emotion. _

_"Ok!" the boy cheered but then paused. "But you never want to play with me. What's wrong?" _

_"Nothing. Is it wrong for me to want to spend some time with my little brother?" Tiamatt smiled again as she lied. _

_"You called me your little brother!" The boy laughed, causing Tiamatt to frown as she reached over and smacked the back of his head. "OW!" _

_Tiamatt laughed and stood up again, on steadier legs before moving towards the door to the room. "Come on." _

_The boy nodded and ran behind her as she talked quietly to an elderly man in a lab coat that took them to a different room. Tiamatt looked back at the boy sadly but when he looked at her curiously, she merely smiled and turned back towards the man who also looked saddened as they finally reached the padded training room. _

_The boy quickly picked out a sword as Tiamatt choose her own sword to use. Despite the fact that Tiamatt was twice as old as the child, she still was forced back by his attacks before countering with her own. By the end of the sparring match, both were tired and leaned against a wall. _

_"You did well." Tiamatt said, looking over at her 7 year old sparring partner. "You keep that up and you might actually surpass me one day." _

_"You think so?" the boy asked, looking back at the older woman. _

_"Not a chance!" Tiamatt laughed.The boy growled and threw himself at her, intiating a wrestling match but was soon in a head lock under Tiamatt's arm, and had his arms and legs restrained as well. "Give it up already brat." _

_"Never!" The boy cried, struggling to free himself from her grasping, causing Tiamatt to laugh again. "I promise I'll get so strong that I'll beat you one day! I'll be stronger then even the hero, Sephiroth!" _

_Tiamatt sotpped laughing and released the boy before setting him beside her. The boy looked at his friend curiously as she sighed sadly. "I...I have to leave." _

_"What? when? Where? Why?" The boy asked in shock. _

_"Hojo...he's moving everyone in my branch of the Project to various Reactors tomorrow." Tiamatt said sadly. _

_"So thats why you put up with me today..." The boy mumbled looking down. "So was the whole brother thing a lie?" _

_"No! Of course not!" TIamatt shouted. "I truly meant that." The woman sighed and turned towards the boy, hugging him, catching him off guard. "You grow up and be strong ok Hiro?" _

Tiamatt woke with a start, sitting straight up before relaxing as she realized where she was. Hiro looked at her curiously as she closed her eyes and sighed and Marth walked into the room.

"What was that?" Marth asked.

Hiro shrugged and looked at his friend. "Tia, are you ok?"

The Cetra looked at him before shaking her head. "Just a dream." Tiamatt sighed, as Marth turned the TV on. "Who the hell is Hojo?" Tiamatt mumbled quietly to herself before sighing again and turning to see a shocking image on the TV.

"Numerous strange creaures have appeared in Siban, Mars and are currently raising havoc. Citizens have reported some of the creatures hailing a being known as Apocolypse, who we all know was destroyed twenty years ago. these claims are surrently being inves-" The reporter was cut off as a Shadow attacked and seconds later, the camera feed stopped. The news station then began to tun the footage in continuous loops.

"I forgot that we kept the Jenova information to ourselves." Hiro said as the scene was played over.

"Tiamatt, can you get me back to Mars?" Marth asked, eyes never leaving the screen as he rewatched the attack on his home.

Tiamatt nodded and stood up. "Yeah, let me grab some supplies quick." The woman disappeared for a moment before reappearing with a small bag full of glowing orbs. "Let's go."

Marth nodded and followed her out of the house as Hiro lagged behind, looking worried. He eyed the attack footage once more before heading outside and running towards the waiting ship.

"I have a bad feeling about this."


	17. Remnants

"Tiamatt, can I contact Mercury and Neptune?" Marth, asked, pacing restlessly back and forth in the cockpit. The woman merely nodded, keeping her attention on piloting the Ragnorok towards Mars. WIth her approval, Marth opened a comm link and quickly reached the desired people. "Please meet us at the base. We'll fill you in on the details there."

"Alright." Two voices answered back before the link was closed and Marth sat down with a sigh in relief.

"So Nightfire and Kai are coming?" Hiro asked from his own seat, looking at Marth.

"From what I understand, Kai just recently fell ill, so his son Josin is coming instead. They're each bring several platoons from what I understand." Marth answered, leaning his head back on the seat. "I just hope Nightfire has calmed down from the last time I saw him. That bird has some issues."

"If I remember correctly, his brother is the rebel Fralex who killed their father. Anyone would suffer from such cruelty at a young age." Tiamatt noted, Mars finally in view as the ship lost speed. "However, I heard his skills in battle are admirable. He should be a good ally."

"What about Jo? Last time I saw him was back during the war and he was really shy and quiet." Hiro asked, the ship vibrating slightly as it began its descent.

"Don't know. Never saw much of him but he lives on the other side of the Belt so..." Marth sighed, looking forward as Siban came into view. He gasped at the large dark colored mob that was over taking the city and began to growl. "Damn it."

The Ragnorok soon landed inside the well protected military base where soldiers were running from place to place, trying to supply the troops on the front lines. Marth lead Tiamatt and Hiro to an armored building and sat down with some of his squad commanders to discuss the situation. Within moments, the engines of other ships were heard and two new armies marched out. A red haired man with a sword at his side grinned widely as Marth and the others came outside to greet them as his silverish blue haired companion examined them carefully, bow and arrows with in easy reach.

"Marth! It's been a while. How are you?" the red haired man cried happily, slapping Marth's shoulder. The wolf just glared slightly but his eyes widened as Nightfire reached for the gun at his waist. "Cool gun! Can I see it?" The phoenix already had the weapon in his hand and began twirling it around his finger before pointing it at Marth. "Bang!" he laughed, his finger no where near the trigger but the bird's action causing Marth's eye to twitch as he snatched his always loaded gun away from Nightfire.

"It's not a toy!" Marth yelled, holstering his weapon back on his hip.

"You didn't have to snatch it from me ass!" Nightfire shouted back.

"It's MY gun and I didn't say you could see it let alone touch it!" The wolf snapped back, iniating a glaring match between bird and canine. Nightfire growled, forming a fireball in his hand but a quick Blizzard spell from Tiamatt exstinguished the flame.

"This isn't the time to fight each other." Tiamatt said, trying to calm the two down as Jo sighed and nodded. "We currently have hundreds of Shadows out attacking the city and all you two are concerned about is seeing who can piss the other off more."

"Sorry Tiamatt." Marth apologized, turning away from Nightfire who was still glaring at him. "Prepare your troops. We attack in one hour." With that, Marth walked back to the main building.

"Stupid mutt." Nightfire muttered loudly, recieving a glare from Tiamatt before he turned his attention on his warriors.

"Please forgive Nightfire." Jo asked, bowing his head slightly before also going to prepare his people.

Tiamatt sighed and looked at Hiro. "Come on, we're helping too." Once they were out of the way of the three different armies, Tiamatt pulled out a bag a Materia and threw Hiro a couple of the glowing orbs. "I trust that you know how to use them."

"Yeah. No problem." Hiro smirked, pressing the orbs into his arm. He looked at Tiamatt again and noticed that she looked uneasy. "Are you ok?"

"...a slight headache. Nothing serious." She shrugged before freezing suddenly.

**You didn't honestly think that foolish wolf got rid of me for good did you?**

Tiamatt flinched, putting a hand to her head before hearing laughter and looking up. Jenova, once again in the form of Apocolypse, hovered above the city with wings the color of dried blood, the veins in the wings silver, looking down at the Cetra with a grin. Hiro looked up too and drew his sword as the armies were alerted and Jo signalled his archers to fire as phoenixs flew into the air.

"No..." Tiamatt growled, pulling the Oblivion Blade and spreading her own wings.

_Be careful!_ Oblivion warned but Tiamatt had already leapt into the air as winged shadows and the strange monsters from the asteroids began to attack the base from the air.

Tiamatt charged at Jenova but the fiend disappeared momentarily before reappearing behind her and knocking her from the sky. Hiro tried to get over to his friends but several Remnants blocked his path.

"We will not let you interfer with Mother's plans." The four armed creature growled.

Hiro swung at him but the creature leapt out of the way. Another creature snapped at him with lion like jaws, missing Hiro's leg by a centimeter before he slammed his fist into the back of the creatures head where he noticed a tattoo. Hiro's eyes widened at the sight of the roman numeral before he noticed that the other creature also had them.

"What are you guys?" Hiro asked in shock as he leapt away from another attack.

"We are the remnants of the experiment meant to duplicate Sister's results. We were created to follow Mother's orders and Mother wishes to use Sister's body as her own." the lion/ sea serpent like IV growled.

"What?!" Hiro snarled, before a Remnant launched itself at Hiro who couldn't fully block the attack and was knocked back. Hiro stood back up, his anger evident. "I will not let that happen!" Hiro charged again but this time, the Remnants fled, laughing. "What the?"

The blonde looked around in confusion as he realized the armies of Mars, Mercury, and Neptune were as confused as he was. All the Remnants and the Shadows had either fled or disappeared and with them, Jenova. Some of the troops began to cheer but something was wrong. Where was Tiamatt?

Tiamatt leapt back into the sky, once again trying to attack Jenova. The Calamity disappeared again and reappeared with the dark sword in her hand.

"Come now Tiamatt. Is that all you got?" Jenova taunted, laughing as she dodged another attack but gasped as the Oblivion Blade bit into her flesh. "Hmph, maybe I was wrong." Jenova looked at the stump of her arm and grinned as it regenerated before forming an odd ball of black flame in her hand. "Let's end this game."

She threw the ball of energy at Tiamatt whose eyes widened as she blocked it only to find a barrage of fireballs flying at her. But the flames never hit and died as they hit the ground below, leaving craters as they exploded. Jenova grinned at the Cetran woman's disappearence and quickly disappeared herself. With her departure, the Shadows evaporated and the Remnants fled, they're task complete.

_Tiamatt stared up out of the crater at the swirling mass of life giving energy. A small bag sat beside her, filled with food and water to last for a few days. Looking at the center of the crater, a strange crystal like cage surrounded a black orb. She growled at it before closing her eyes._

**_Why do you remain here? I no longer have a usable body. There is nothing I can do._**

_"Shut up!" Tiamatt growled at the voice, glancing at the destroyed body of a monster. "We both know it was me you wanted, not him. I know you won't give up either. You still want me as your host." _

**_True...It is your body I wanted to controll but instead I got that foolish lover of yours. True he was strong but your abilities greatly exceed his. Besides even if you two could have been together, do you honestly think you could be happy? You would live on as he and any possible children you might have had died. Could you truly live like that? _**

_"Shut up!" Tiamatt yelled again, closing her eyes again as clutched a pendent tightly. _

**_You are a fool to hold on to any of your friends. Even your dear brother has left you._**

_"Why can't you leave me alone!?"_

**_I will always haunt you Tiamatt, for all eternity. Someday, I will control you and you will watch as your friends die at your own hands..._**


	18. Reunion

"Get up!"

Tiamatt opened her eyes, pushing herself up off the ground and looked around. Jenova stood nearby, arms crossed over her chest as she stood before an old building that looked like it could collapse any second.

"Where am I? Where did you bring me?" Tiamatt asked, glaring at her enemy.

"Me? Bring you here? Don't make me laugh." Jenova sneered. "You brought yourself to this place. As to why, I am curious after this place has caused you so much pain."

"What do you mean?"

"Hmph, follow me." Jenova turned an leapt the broken stairs before disappearing into the crumbling building.

Tiamatt eyed the building warily, a strange vision of the builidng in perfect condition with an odd glow surrounding it flashing before her eyes. Shaking the image out of her head, Tiamatt followed Jenova inside. The whole building looked like it was going to fall apart but the worst was a bridge that spaned a gaping hole. The metal bridge was sagging in the middle and rust holes were everywhere but on the other side beckoned Jenova. As soon as her foot touched the rusted metal, another vision flashed before her eyes.

_Tiamatt picked the injured boy up, not wanting to leave him alone in the burning town. She could still feel tears running down her face as she went north into the mountains. She soon reached the glowing building and raced inside. She set the boy down as she heard yelling and ran over to the railing to see the bridge below. A silver haired man limped across the bridge, an abnormally long sword in one hand as the other carried a dismembered head. _

_"Mother..." He said softly, continuing across the bridge as a spikey haired blonde kid ran at him, screaming in anger. The silver haired man turned, thrusting his sword into the gut of the boy who screamed before going limp. "Do not interfer boy." _

_"My home town...mom...Tifa...how could you?" the boy mumbled, raising his arms slowly and glaring at the silver haired man. "I admired you ..." _

_"What?!" the man cried in shock as the boy gripped the blade with only thinnly gloved hands and pulled the sword from his stomach, the silver haired man still holding onto the blade tightly as the boy threw the blade over railing, causing the silver haired man and the head to fall into the glowing pit. The boy, losing blood fast collapsed as Tiamatt fell to her knees, crying for the man that had just disappeared. But why?_

Tiamatt snapped out of the vision as the bridge creaked loudly and she sprinted across, not trusting it to give way from under her. She glanced back at the pit, trying to shake the vision out of her head but her thoughts lingered on the man. Who was he?

"Is something wrong?" Tiamatt looked back at Jenova and shook her head.

"It's nothing just...I saw a man being thrown into the pit...who was he?" Tiamatt asked.

"Sephiroth, the man that you once loved and I believe still do." Jenova grinned, seeing the other woman's face rise in recognition before confusion clouded her features again.

"Wait, loved? Sephiroth tried to destory the world didn't he? How could I love someone like that?" Tiamatt asked, not believing what Jenova said.

"He wasn't always like that. After all, who do you think gave you that pendent around your neck?"

Tiamatt was about to retort but didn't know how to respond. She had that necklace since she could remember. She felt lost without it, like a piece of her was missing. Could she really have gotten one of her most prized possessions from a man who was called the Nightmare?

"Everything will be explained shortly Tiamatt. Soon all your dreams and visions will have meaning." Jenova grinned, entering the next chamber.

Tiamatt paused, questioning weither she should follow but she wanted to know what her dreams and visions meant. Why did she keep having them? She wanted her past, her memories. Exactly what Jenova offered her. Pushing the doubt to the back of her mind, she walked into the final room to see it full of broken capsules. A flight of stairs lead up to a door where the faded word JENOVA could be seen arching above it. Tiamatt froze. _This is the place from my dreams..._

"What is this place?" Tiamatt asked, looking at Jenova who stood at the top of the stairs grinning.

"This is where your worst nightmares were brought to life, where I first tried to control you." Jenova smirked, the dark blade reforming in her hands. "And the place where my Reunion will finally take place!"

Jenova leapt down the stairs, swinging her sword down at Tiamatt who barely drew the Oblivion Blade in time to block. The Calamity grinned as she streadily pushed the Cetra back before Tiamatt leapt into the air, spreading her wings to provide extra lift but was forced to turn quickly as Jenova launched another attack.

00000000000

"Damn! We've search all over!" Marth cursed, slamming his fist down onto a table.

"Marth, Tiamatt is perfectly capable of taking care of herself." Jo noted, trying to reassure the young wolf.

"What the hell are you talking about? Jenova was just here! Did you not realize that Tiamatt disappeared about the same time as the Calamity?!" Hiro yelled, glaring at the serpent. "Don't tell me that the Prophecy has been forgotten already?"

"We've all heard the Prophecy, Hiro but what does that have to do with Tia?" Nightfire asked, leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table, recieving disapproving glances from Marth.

"Of course, Tiamatt is the warrior mentioned in the Prophecy and the Calamity is Jenova. If Jenova was to gain control of Tiamatt then the worlds will supposedly be destroyed." Jo answered, now understanding fully the seriousness of the woman's disappearance.

"This isn't the first time Jenova has tried something. Tiamatt used to complain headaches and hearing Jenova talk to her back when I was originally alive." Hiro added. "We need to find her."

"I know but she's no where on Mars." Marth sighed, looking down. "She could be anywhere."

"...she's on Earth."

The others looked at Hiro, questioning his answer.

"I think...she might be at the Northern Cave. Tiamatt used to go there alot. There are a few other possibilities but I doubt she'd go there." The blonde explained.

"You know her past better then we do." Jo noted, sighing. "We'll trust your judgement on the situation."

"Alright then we should check the Cave first. After that either Midgar or the Mount Nibel range."

000000000000000

Jenova slammed into the ceiling of the room as Tiamatt blinked in shock. She merely flung her arm out to defend herself but the motion of her arm sent her charging enemy flying away from her.

"How the hell did I do that?" Tiamatt asked herself, as Jenova fell to the ground and stood back up, smirking.

"Seems you've recovered one of your sorceress powers." Jenova smirked, lifting her blade. "They certainly make you an all more desirable host."

Jenova flew at Tiamatt again, slamming into the reinforced door that had once held her attaker captive. The Cetra slid to the floor, screaming as Jenova stabbed at her shoulder. The Calamity pulled the Oblivion Blade from her hands, throwing the sword down to the bottom of the stairs. Pulling her sword from Tiamatt's shoulder, the Calamity delivered a quick but powerful kick to her ribs that sent her flying into an already destroyed capsule, the jagged metal biting into her back.

"Jenova, what do you want?" Tiamatt gasped, unable to use her left arm due to the wound in her shoulder. The pale woman laughed, walking towards the capsule and grabbing Tiamatt's throat and lifting her into the air.

"My body is no more and I need a more efficent one to replace it. True I might resemble you but I have barely a fraction of your total power. After your powers are complete I can destroy finally this pathetic planet along with the worlds of your friends." Jenova sneered, green eyes narrowed into a triumphant glare.

Tiamatt growled, working a small flame in her gut before spitting it into the Calamity's face. Jenova snarled, dropping Tiamatt onto her knees before kicking her again, this time directly in the stomach, causing her to gasp and spit up blood.

"This...this is why you brought me here?"

"I thought I already explained this Tiamatt." Jenova frowned, knelling beside the Cetra who was clutching her gut in pain. "It seems in a vain attempt to escape me, you activated one of your sorceress powers and teleported yourself away. I'm am still curious as to why you came here of all places. But I guess it doesn't matter. Your fate is sealed."

Jenova reached for the injured Tiamatt, whose eyes were dialated to slits. "NO!"

A wave of energy raced from Tiamatt and knocked Jenova to into the opposing wall which happened to be the door the lead to the bridge before the Calamity fell in a heap on the floor. Shaking, Tiamatt slowly stood up, body glowing blue as Curaga healed her wounds. She was breathing hard from the beating she had taken but none the less, leapt down the stair and grabbed her sword as Jenova stood up, grinning.

The sound of metal on metal echoed through the chamber as Jenova blocked the attack and pushed Tiamatt back. A green orb glowed in the Cetra's arm as a dark aura surrounded the Calamity, both glaring at their opponent.

"Firaga!"

"Demi!"

The spells hit their targets at the same time, Jenova being surounded by searing blue-white flames as the darkness of Demi surrounded Tiamatt, attempting to crush her with its intense waves of gravity. Tiamatt leapt free of the spell, cringing as her sword glowed golden and a yellow orb glowed her arm. Jenova, too, had escaped the fire and cast her own spell, causing Tiamatt's attack to be deflected by the unseen Wall. Jenova rushed out from the protection of her spell, swinging her sword downwards and forcing Tiamatt to crouch as she blocked. The Cetra growled anerily, spinning in a low circle in an attempt to kick Jenova's legs out from under her but the Calamity leapt away and was forced to block almost immediately as her sword stopped the Oblivion Blade's movements.

"It seems we're evenly matched." Tiamatt said, panting heavily from the fight. Jenova grinned, twisting her blade and swinging at her prey, who leapt away.

"Not quite. You see, unless you can call up more of your powers, you'll never defeat me." Tiamatt just growled angerily in response. "Growling will do nothing. Let's end this." Jenova launched herself at Tiamatt again, her attack now with more speed and power, causing Tiamatt to struggle just to block.

"Tiamatt!" a familiar voice called.

Tiamatt turned her head slightly, allowing her to see her friends standing inside the doorway, watching the battle in shock. Jenova spotted her momentary chance and with a quick turn of her sword, knocked Tiamatt out with the flat of the blade. Casting Wall to prevent any outside interference, Jenova kicked the Oblivion Blade away before grabbing one of Tiamatt's hands. Tiamatt moaned as Jenova used her sword to slice open first Tiamatt's palm and then her own. Grinning, Jenova placed their palms together, allowing her own active cells to infect Tiamatt and awaken any cells that were dormant. Tiamatt's eyes snapped open before they closed again and she pulled her hand away, clutching her head as she screamed.

"No! Tiamatt!" Hiro screamed, drawing his sword and slashing madly at Wall but the spell wouldn't give even when Marth, Jo, and Nighfire added their own attacks.

Tiamatt continued to scream, knelling on the floor, her head still clutched tightly in her hands. Jenova grinned, waving a hand carelessly, causing Wall to disappear. Hiro immediatly stopped his attacks as he realized what Jenova was planning but Marth had his revolver already pointed directly at Jenova.

"You will pay for what you've done!" Marth growled, glaring at the Calamity, the barrel of his weapon pointed directly at her heart.

"You don't want to do that." Teased Jenova, still grinning as Jo and Nightfire raised their weapons again. Tiamatt became quiet as she fainted and Jenova slowly knelt beside her, sropping only as a bullet ripped through her heart.

"NO!" Hiro yelled at Marth but it was too late and the cry was ignored.

"My father died trying to ensure the Prophecy wasn't fulfilled. I will make sure he didn't die in vain." Marth growled, the barrel of the revolver smoking slightly. The triumphant glint in his eyes died away as he noticed Jenova still grinning as she dissolved into free flowing Lifestream.

"Now," She smirked, "You will all witness my Reunion!"

Jenova dissolved completely, her energy circling the still unconscious Tiamatt before it entered her body, causing the woman's spine to arch violently as her eyes snapped open, blue flickering to green before returning to their normal color before her eyes shut and Tiamatt lay still.

"Tiamatt?" Marth asked cautiously as she groaned and opened her eyes, still their normal electric blue. Sitting up slowly and rubbing her head where Jenova's blade had hit, Tiamatt looked up at her friends, confused by the uncertain looks they were giving her.

"Whats wrong?"


	19. Recovery

"Tiamatt, are you sure you feel ok?" Hiro asked, looking at the Cetra with concern.

Tiamatt and Hiro had returned home to the Sleeping Forest as Nightfire, Jo, and Marth returned to Mars to take care of their troops.

"Yes, Hiro. I'm perfectly fine. In all honesty, I feel better then I have for a great many years, more complete almost. It's strange." Tiamatt sighed, smiling slightly as she laid her head on the back of the couch, closing her eyes. "I know I should be worried but...I'm starting to remember things now."

"Like what?"

Tiamatt looked up and pointed to the cases that held various weapons. "All those weapons have always seemed familiar but now I can remember actually seeing the original owners. Battles flash in my mind of those very weapons being used."

"So...do you remember me yet?" Hiro asked hopefully but Tiamatt shook her head. "Oh..."

"I don't remember everything Hiro but its slowly coming to me. Things are making more sense to me now that once caused confusion. Soon I'll remember everything." The Cetra explained, her eyes suddenly clouding over for a moment before clearing and a grin formed on her face. "Hey Hiro, check this out!"

Tiamatt flicked her wrist, causing an empty glass on the table to fly into her hand. Her grin widened as Hiro's mouth fell open.

"I don't remember you ever being able to do that before!" Hiro gasped as several more objects flew at the woman. "How are you doing that?"

Tiamatt shrugged, letting the objects settle back on the table. "Don't know. I just suddenly remember I cou-" the woman paused again before shaking her head. "Sorceress powers."

"What?"

"Apparently I'm a sorceress." Tiamatt repeated, looking at Hiro, still grinning. "Geez, I wish I'd just get all my memories back instead of getting them in bits and pieces like this. It's kind of annoying."

Hiro laughed and then suddenly felt himself being lifted from his seat before being flipped upside down. "Tia! Put me down!"

"Hmph! Spoil my fun why don't you." Tiamatt pouted, flicking her wrist and sending Hiro crashing to the ground, still upside down.

"Ow!" Hiro sat up, rubbing his head as Tiamatt snickered. "That wasn't funny."

"Oh sure it was. You just had to see it from my point of view!" Tiamatt laughed. Hiro muttered something to himself as he stood up and made his way towards the kitchen but as he passed Tiamatt, he reached over and smacked the back of her head. "Ah! Why you little-I'm going to kill you for that!"

Hiro's eyes widened as Tiamatt leapt from her seat and attempted to grab him but Hiro was already running for the front door. Hiro couldn't help but grin as he remembered something from his past as he ran outside, Tiamatt at his heels, threatening to kill him. However the chase didn't last long as the blonde soon realized that his persuer had stopped. Tracing his steps, he found Tiamatt in the same trance like state she was in before she rediscovered her sorceress powers.

"Tiamatt?" Hiro stepped towards her cautiously. "Are you ok?" The woman didn't respond, her eyes still clouded. "Tia?"

Tiamatt suddenly flung herself at Hiro, hugging him tightly as she began to cry. "Hiro, I can't believe I forgot who you were. I can't believe I forgot my little brother."

"Tia, you remember me?" Hiro asked, feeling the woman nod as she cried into his shoulder and he returned her embrace. "It's ok Tia. It wasn't your fault."

"I saw you die Hiro. I begged you not to leave me alone but you left. I was so lonely. I-" Tiamatt choked on a sob. "I lost the only two people I ever truly cared about. I was alone for so many years..."

"Tiamatt, I'm sorry. It was my time." Hiro sighed, trying to comfort his 'sister'. "But I'm back and we'll defeat Jenova together, just like old times."

Tiamatt nodded again, letting go of her grip and wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "Thank you Hiro."

"Why do you think I hung around these last twenty years?" Hiro smirked, causing Tiamatt to smile.

"Again, thank you. It means a lot to me." Tiamatt replied, now calmer. "What could make me forget something so important?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure you'll remember sooner or later. Just give it time." the blonde shrugged,a grin on his face. "Come on, let's go back home."

Tiamatt nodded and walked past him, her hand hitting the back of the blonde's head as she passed.

"Hey!" Hiro cried, putting a hand to the back of his head. "What was that for?"

"Being a brat, of course!" Tiamatt grinned, laughing as a small transport crusier flew overhead. "I guess that would be Marth, Nightfire, and Jo."

"Hey Tia!" Nightfire called as he got off the ship. "You feeling alright?"

"I feel fine. I'm actually starting to remember things. Like I finally remember Hiro." Tiamatt smiled before frowning. "I only wonder what would cause me to forget things like that."

"Maybe you'll remember why later." Hiro pointed out.

"Hopefully..." She sighed.

"Hey, um Tia. I just want to say thank you for trying to help back on Mars and that I'm sorry about attacking you...I should gave you a chance to explain..." Marth said, rubbing the back of his head in embrassment. "Guess I've just been listening to Mom too much. She blame you for Dad's death."

"I don't blame you Marth. You're still upset that Oblivion is gone and you were never told the whole story either." Tiamatt answered, giving him a small smile. "If you ever need help, just ask and I'll help you to the best of my ability."

"Thanks Tia!" Marth grinned before waving his hand in front of the woman's face as her eyes clouded over again. "Tiamatt?"

The Cetra blinked a couple times, shaking her head. "Sorry. That seems to happen when ever I get some of my memories back."

"That's weird." Nightfire commented. "But you're ok right?"

"Yes I'm fine! I wish you guys wouldn't worry so much!" Tiamatt shouted throwing her hands into the air in frustration.

"Sorry Tia, its just with the whole thing at the Reactor with Jenova...we just want to make sure you're alright." Jo sighed.

"...please don't worry so much. Nothing bad is going to happen."

"You obviously don't remember everything about Jenova." Tiamatt looked at Hiro in shock as he glared at her. "If you did then you would be more concerned."

"Hiro, its true I don't remember Jenova other then what happened twenty years ago but I don't see the big deal. I feel fine and I haven't had any problems yet." Tiamatt shrugged, walking back to the house.

"Yet! Thats the key Tia. Jenova has YET to do any thing but she is going to.You need to be careful." the blonde man yelled. Tiamatt stopped and glared at him over her shoulder before disappearing inside. "Jeez, whats with her now. She won't even listen to me."

000000000

_Tiamatt, Hiro is right. Even though Jenova hasn't done anything yet, she is planning something. Remember that she said she wanted your powers to be complete. For that to happen you have to have your memories. _

"I know Oblivion but what am I suppose to do? I can't control when I-" Tiamatt paused for a moment.

_Yes, I know you can't control it but just be prepared for Jenova to do something at anytime. The Calamity will try to do something...we just don't know when._

"Yeah..." Tiamatt sighed, standing up. "Maybe I should go apologize to Hiro. He is just trying to help after all."

_I agree. You may need his help someday and it is best to be on good terms with him. _

"True." She said, walking back outside where Hiro was now glaring at her. "Hiro, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted that way. You were just trying to help..."

Hiro continued to glare before a grin crossed his face. "Ha! I got you to say you're sorry!"

"What?!" Tiamatt gasped as Hiro laughed. "Why you little brat!? That wasn't funny! I really meant that!"

"Um, guys. Its getting late. Maybe we should head inside." Marth noted as the sky started to darken. The rumbling of thunder could be heard in the distance.

"Inside sounds good!" Jo said nervously as lightning was seen flashing far away.

The group laughed as they returned to the house and soon went to bed.

_Tiamatt stood in the back of the room, silently watching as several people in blue uniforms stood in front of a middle aged man with glasses. _

_"Congradulation! The mission in Dollot was a sucess. Therefore, you all have passed your exams. After the ball tonight, you will all be full fledged Seed. You have all done well and are welcomed into the ranks." the man said, smiling at the young men and women. "Now you have the rest of the afternoon to do as you wish before tonight. Dismissed." _

_The group saluted and did an about face before exiting the room. Once they were gone, the man turned to Tiamatt._

_"Tiamatt, you are dismissed as well. Enjoy the afternoon." _

_Tiamatt bowed her head but remained where she stood. "Headmaster, I appreciate the offer but I must decline. You have a bad habit of skipping on your paper work and I would prefer not to watch Balamb Garden dissappear into nothingness due to carelessness."_

_"Stubborn as always but I guess this has been your home since its founding hasn't it? Fine, stay and make sure I don't forget to fill out my forms then." Cid Kramer laughed. Tiamatt just noddded as the man sat down at his desk. "You need to smile more Tia. let people know you're actually alive and be happy for once."_

_"My apologies sir, but I haven't been happy for over two thousand years. Not since my brother died." Tiamatt again bowed her head. _

_Cid sighed and looked at the Seed. "People die Tiamatt. Its a part of life. You need to move on and continue your life instead of clinging to the past."_

_"That is easier said then done sir. Especially when I will live on till the planet itself dies." Tiamatt replied before flinching and putting a hand to her head. _

_"Tiamatt?" Cid looked at her in concern as she held her head in both hands and shook. "Tiamatt!" The woman looked up, eyes flickering slightly before she fell unconscious and collapsed to the floor..._


	20. More revealed

_Everything felt like it was pulling away and pressing against her at the same time. Past, present, future, all compressed into one. Nothing seeming real except for the large castle that the power originated from. Tiamatt hated it. She saw places of her past flash before her eyes before disappearing into the nothingness of time compression. Tiamatt had to be careful other she would meet the same fate. _

_"Tiamatt, come on." Tiamatt turned to look at a woman with dark hair in blue, a dog at her side. "We're ready for the final battle. Are you?" _

_"Yes. Ultimecia has no right to mess with such powerful magic. I am still curious as to how she developed it. But that doesn't matter. Let's go."_

_The dark hair woman nodded and led Tiamatt to where five others were waiting. A man with short brown hair and wearing a black leather jacket, held a gunblade in one hand, the other, on a door handle. A man in a trench coat with his long hair back in a ponytail and wearing a cowboy hat, had a shotgun cocked over his shoulder. A woman with short brown hair and wearing yellow, stood next to him, nunchuks in her hands. Another woman stood hear by, her blonde hair in a small ponytail as she loosely coiled her whip in one hand. The final person was a man with blonde hair and a tattoo on one side of his face, who was cracking his gloved knuckles. _

_"This is it. Once we open this door there's no going back." the man with the gunblade said. "Are you ready?" the entire group nodded and the man took a deep breath before opening the door._

_A strange woman with what appeared to be horn on her head and strange wings on her back sat in the middle of the large open ceiling room. She narrowed her eyes as she watched the group enter the chamber._

_"...Seed..." Ultimecia muttered as the group all returned the glare. "...Seed...Seed...Seed...Seed, Seed, Seed! Kurse all Seeds! Swarming like lokust akross generations. You digust me." The woman waved her arms at them as she spoke. "The world was on the brink of that ever-elusive 'time kompression'. Insolent fools! Your vain krusade ends here, Seeds. The price for your meddling is death beyond death, I shall send you to a dimension beyond your imagining. There, I will reign and you will be my slaves for eternity." Ultimecia laughed as she stood up, her wings fluttering slightly behind her. "Whom should I exterminate first!? I'll start with you three!" _

_The woman pointed towards the man with the gunblade, the martial artist, and the woman in blue, pulling them forward with some unseen force as the other were forced out of the way. Ultimecia extended her wings fully, flying down from her chair down to where the Seeds waited for the battle to begin. Tiamatt watched, growling slightly, a hand tight around the hilt of her sword. _

_**Interesting...what power that woman,Ultimecia, posesses...** Tiamatt put her free hand to her hand, cursing under her breath as Ultimecia took a couple hits before spreading her wings again._

_"The most powerful GF...you shall...SUFFER...!" A blinding light replaced Ultimecia and in her place, hovered a strange winged lion like creature. It roared stretched its claws and launched forward. "Griever!" _

Tiamatt bolted up, the charging monster, Griever still visible in her mind, it's roar echoing in her ear. "Was that...another memory?" Tiamatt sighed after thinking about it for a moment. "It has to be. It seemed so real."

Looking out the window, she could see that it was still dark out as wall as the outline of some of the white trees of the forest. Turning to look at her clock, she sighed again.

"It's only one in the morning...I should try to get more sleep..." Tiamatt laid back down, closing her eyes and slowly fell back to sleep...

_Tiamatt was barely conscious, needle marks covering the inside of her arms but the feel of the man's hand on her face was enough to raise a growl in her throat. _

_"Temper, temper, my Cetra. When will you ever learn to control it?" The man asked before turning as one of his assisants came into the room. "What is it?" _

_"Professor Hojo, the Turks came with a order from President Shinra." Hojo snatched a piece of paper from the assisant and read over it, mumbling angrily as two people in suits entered the room. _

_"We are to retrieve the woman and bring her to President Shinra immediatly." One of the men explained. _

_"First I lose Project H and now I lose my Cetran specimen. Take her away Tseng." Hojo growled, waving his hand and walking away, mumbling angrily to himself. _

_Tseng nodded, and approached the table that the woman was restrained to, unfastening the restraints before helping her up. "Come on miss," Tseng encouraged but Tiamatt was still clinging to consciousness. "Hojo, what did you do to her? She's not responding." _

_"That is simply the sedative. It'll wear off after a while." Hojo explained. Tseng questioned the answer as his fellow Turk got on the Tiamatt's other side and helped support her. _

_"This is more then just sedative. Look at her eyes. I can't imagine what Hojo has put her through." the older Turk whipsered as they moved out of the lab. "I've never seen Tiamatt in this condition. She needs treatment." _

_"Zin ,you used to be her bodyguard basically right, back when she lived in the Icicle Village area?" Tseng asked. Zin nodded. _

_"Yes. Her and Sephiroth. I basically watched her grow up. I was told not to interact, just to observe from a distance and report any major changes. She's...changed alot." Zin explained with a sigh. Tseng gave his partner a questioning look. "I'm sure you've heard of reported anger problems correct?" Tseng nodded. "Tiamatt used to never be like that. She always was kind, respectful, at least till Sephiroth was taken for the war. She began to hate Shinra for taking away Sephiroth and started closing herself off." _

_"..." Tiamatt let out a small moan and lifted her head, her eyes a little clearer, cauing the two Turks to stop. _

_"Are you alright miss? Can you walk on your own?" _

_Tiamatt looked at Tseng and nodded, shrugging the Turks' arms away and standing on her own. "I'm fine." _

_"Tiamatt, did you hear everything?" Zin asked. Tiamatt nodded again. "Good, then you know that you are to see President Shinra immediatly. We will escort you there." _

_"You think I'm going to try to escape? If I did, where would I have to go? I have no family and the only possible person I could go to is a SOLDIER." Tiamatt said, walking ahead of the Turks. The Turks said nothing as they went to the top floor of the building and opened the door to the President's office._

_"You must be Tiamatt, correct?" The man asked from behind his desk. Tiamatt nodded, glaring at him as he signaled her to sit down. "You have many promising ablities miss. That is why I have an offer for you."_

_"What kind of offer?" _

_Shinra grinned, leaning forward slightly. "Work for me and I can promise that Hojo will not be allowed near you. A simple choice really. What I offer gives you freedom while if you decline, you must return to being an experiment. Do you accept?" _

Tiamatt sat up again, shaking her head. "This is going to be a problem if this keeps happening..." Sighing, she looked back at her clock again. "Three thirty...Maybe I'll just stay up." She sighed again as she stood up and got dressed and went out to the kitchen for something to eat. "What are with these memory dreams? Seed, Shinra, Hojo, SOLDIER. What do they mean? What are they?"

Shaking her head, Tiamatt turned towards the stairs that lead to the basement, her breakfast in hand. Pushing some blueprints out of the way, she set her food down on a table before sitting down in front of a computer. Pausing for a moment, she thought she heard someone move upstairs but the noise stopped and she turned her attention of the computer.

"Let's see...maybe I'll start with Shinra..." Tiamatt's eyes widened as the files showed up on the screen and she began to scan through them.

It was a couple hours before she got through all the information and by the end of it, she was greatly distrubed. Just by looking for information on Shinra, she had also found information on Hojo, SOLDIER, and of many projects that were associated with the company. Standing up, Tiamatt left the computer and returned upstairs, hoping Hiro was awake. Luckily, he was.

"Hiro,"

"Morning Tiamatt." Hiro smiled but then grew concerned by the confused look on her face. "Whats wrong?"

"I...I was have memory dreams...I tried to find out more online but..." Tiamatt stammered nervously.

"What were the dreams about?"

"Time compression and...Shinra..." She said slowly. Hiro's gaze turned serious. "Were we really part of an experiment?"

The blonde man looked down sadly. "Yes, Tia, we were. But that was a long time ago. Its over now. We don't have to worry about Hojo or Shinra."

Tiamatt nodded, still looking uneasy from the truth. "It...kinda hard to believe but...it makes sense. Its because of the experiments I'm still alive and have my...abilities. It's no wonder why Jenova was after me when I've had her cells flowing through me all along."

"Even if Jenova does want to control you, you don't have to let her. You can fight back. You've done it before Tia." Hiro said, trying to reassure her. "Don't let it get to you."

"Hiro, I'm so confused. My memory is coming back but there are huge holes in my memory, nothing is complete, at least not yet. I'm scared of what will happen when I remember everything." Tiamatt said quietly, looking down. "The feeling of not being able to control my own body yet being able to see, hear, smell, and feel everything that is happening. She laughs at me Hiro, even now she taunts me."

'Tia, I...know how that feels." Hiro answered sadly. "Don't let her get to you."

Tiamatt closed her eyes, trembling slightly before turning around. "Theres some more information I want to look up. I'll be back up in a while." With that, Tiamatt walked back down stairs, a hand to her head and leaving Hiro worried.

This continued for another month, Tiamatt isolating herself mostly downstairs, researching her past, as Hiro, Marth, Nightfire, and Jo continued to worry. Thousands of years of memories were returning to her and as Tiamatt's confusion disappeared, it was replaced with fear. Finally, Tiamatt learned why she had lost her memory and explained it to the others...

_Ultimecia screamed in pain as her defeat caused her own Time Compression to turn on her, absorbing her into the nothingness of time. As she disappeared, so did everything else, only to be replaced with a white void. _

_"where are we?" Selphie asked, looking around in confusion. The others were equally lost as they scurried around in the nothingness._

_"Concentrate on our timeline." Tiamatt said. "Time is merely trying to untangle itself. If we are to return home, we must all concentrate." _

_"Alright." Squall nodded, closing his eyes. The others followed suit and one by one, disappeared from the void. _

**_Do you feel the power_?**_Tiamatt flinched, breaking her concentration. **The Sorceress...she gave you her power...use it!**_

_"Leave me alone!" Tiamatt yelled, hand to her aching head. She screamed as the voice tried to take control and the past started to flash before her eyes. "No!" Tiamatt fought back, trying to reverse the effect back to the present. _

**_You fool! Let me take us back to the past! Let me destroy that world! In exchange, I will spare your beloved Sephiroth! _**

_"NO! The past is done! We can't meddle with time!" Tiamatt screamed, continuing the time magic tug of war._

_T__he pain from the headache the voice caused suddenly tripled, spreading through her whole body. Time Compression lost its direction and went wild, pulling at the woman as the other consciosness was pulled from her, along with her memories. Time Compression then spit the two woman out into the future, leaving one confused, mind void of all memories except for her name but strange powers radiating from her. The other, having all the other woman's memories but powerless..._

****


	21. Collapse

**You've always been a puppet. That is your destiny...**

"No. It's not true."

**Foolish woman. Why do you deny the truth? You have your memories back. You know your past. You have always been a puppet. **

"I am no ones puppet. I choose my own destiny!"

**Tell yourself what you wish but your path was choosen the day you were born. Correction, the day your father left your mother. Prehaps if he had stayed, your mother would still be alive and you could have avoided this path but he was a coward, abandoning her soon after she told him she was pregnant with you. **

"Shut up!"

**Poor Cetra. You have no family and no control over your destiny. You are merely my tool. You won't even accept the truth of your family. You were a mistake. Unwanted by your own father. It was because of you he left. It was because of you your mother died.**

"Shut up and leave me alone!"

**I can never leave you alone Tiamatt. I am a part of you...**

"No..." Tiamatt sat in a clearing, her arms wrapped around her knees, trying to ignore the voice in her head. A cool night breeze swept through the trees, making her shiver but she didn't move from her spot. "I refuse to listen to your lies."

**Lie? I tell only the truth. Course if you don't believe me, you could ask him yourself. He is a part of the Lifestream after all.**

"..."

**You know my words are true.**

"I won't deny the fact that my father abandoned my mother when she was pregnant but I am not a mistake. No child is a mistake." Tiamatt mumbled, looking at the clear sky.

**Go ahead and keep telling yourself this but one day you will learn the truth. But I should thank him for creating such a perfect host.**

"Shut up and leave me in peace." Tiamatt whispered. The voice laughed, eventually fading away. Sighing, she leaned back on her hands, eyes still on the stars. "I wasn't just some mistake...was I?"

"Tiamatt, there you are!" The woman turned to see Hiro, Marth, Nightfire, and Jo run into the small clearing. "We've been looking all over for you." Marth huffed, trying to catch his breath.

"You shouldn't disappear like that Tia. With your memories back, we don't know when Jenova will try to control you again." Hiro added as Tiamatt stood up.

"I'm sorry. I just needed sometime alone." Tiamatt sighed before flinching.

**You will never be alone...**

"Shut up." She muttered to herself, causing the others to give her worried looks.

**Face it, everything is your fault. Sephiroth's insanity, Meteor, the Remnants getting my head in the Northern Cave. Its all your fault. Your meddling in magic in an attempt to evolve it eventually led to the sorceresses which led to the Wars and eventually Ultimecia and Time Compression. Because of you, we were seprated and you killed your best friend. The death of your foster family, that was your fault. You killed them. You've killed thousands. Everything is your fault...**

"No..." Tiamatt whispered, trembling as she closed her eyes till someone put their arms around her.

"Tiamatt, it's ok. Try to ignore Jenova." Hiro encouraged but Tiamatt was still shaking. "Come on Tia. Don't let her get to you."

"...everything...was my fault..."

"What do you mean?" Nightfire asked, confused. "Nothing is your fault."

Tiamatt pushed Hiro away, tears running down her face. "Jenova wanted me from the very begining, not Sephiroth. Because of me, he was taken. I should have been able to stop him but I didn't. Because of me, Meteor was summoned. I was supposed to protect Jenova's remains from being taken but I failed."

"Tiamatt, it wasn't your fault. If anyone is to blame its me." Hiro said, trying to reach for her again but Tiamatt backed away.

"All the major disaster is history can be traced back to me. I tried to find ways to use magic without Materia which spread to others and eventually led to sorceresses. Time Compression was caused because years before, I tried to evolve magic."

"Time Compression is not your fault. Someone else would have eventually tried to leave Materia as a source for magic meaning sorceresses would still come into existance. Don't blame yourself for such foolish things." Jo tried to point out but Tiamatt shook her head.

**Don't listen to those fools. You know the truth.**

"It's all my fault..." Tiamatt muttered quietly. "I should have been able to prevent it but I-" She stopped and clutched her head in her hands, screaming.

"No! Tiamatt!" Hiro grabbed her shoulders, calling her name till she became silent and slumped forward, unconscious.

"What just happened?" Nightfire asked, shocked by the event.

Jo looked at Tiamatt as Hiro picked her up and began to walk back towards the house. "My guess is that Jenova is trying to get Tia to doubt herself, make her fell guilty so that she is easier to control."

Nightfire fire shook his head. "Mind games. It's not right. I would think Tiamatt would have enough sense not to listen to Jenova."

"That's how mind games work. They're meant to be hard to ignore and target sensitive subjects before placing blame and guilt." Marth explained.

Nightfire nodded. "Ok but what would be a sensitive subject for Tiamatt? It wouldn't be Oblivion would it?"

"Prehaps but I think its something else." Jo sighed as they finally reached the house. "What was one of the things she almost never brings up?"

Hiro set Tiamatt on the couch before turning back around. "Her family. Even when I first knew her, Tiamatt almost never talked about her family. From what I understand, her father left before she was born and her mother died giving birth to her. I guess she was discovered by Shinra not long after and selected to be raised with Sephiroth in Icicle Village."

"What a rough start." Nightfire gasped, taking a seat in the recliner. "No wonder she has issues."

Hiro sighed and shook his head after sitting on the other couch. "I don't think thats the way she is. I think its because of the experiments, when she first had Jenova's cells injected into her. I remember when I was little seeing this green liquid around the area where the needles had been on her arms. It used to worry me but she always said everything was fine."

"You were also used as an experiment right?" Jo asked, sitting at the other end of the couch.

Hiro nodded. "Yes but I was infused the soul and blood of a demon named Void. We looked out for each other, took care of each other, and at times, annoyed each other."

"Hm...so you wouldn't by chance know how to stop Jenova would you?" Marth asked, leaning against the wall.

"No. Tia's the researcher, not me. She used to read all the time, trying to find a way to help me. Now I guess it's my turn to help her."

"Theres no need Hiro." everyone turned to face Tiamatt who had already woken up and was now sitting. "This is my problem. I will find a solution."

**You can't. If you attempt to remove my cells you would die. They are apart of you to your very core. **

"She's annoying but her words hold some truth. I can't remove the cells without killing myself. The only solution is to somehow neutralize them or destroy her consciousness. The question is, how?" Tiamatt sighed, leaning forward, with her elbows on her knees. "I don't know how much longer I can put up with this. I can feel my mind collapsing because I do feel somethings she says is true but..."

Hiro gave her a reassuring smile. "Just don't give up.We'll find a way. Don't worry." Tiamatt tried to return the smile but doubt clouded her features.

**There is no hope. You are only a puppet...**

"Shut up!" Tiamatt yelled, causing the others to jump in shock as Tiamatt stood up, muttering to herself as she walked downstairs. A door was heard being slammed shut as the others watched, all concerned.

"Tia..." Hiro said quietly as silence filled the room.

Marth turned back towards the others, a look of determination in his eyes. "There must be someway we can help?"

"Unless Jenova takes full control, all we can provide is support and hope that that doesn't happen." Hiro explained, sighing. "I don't want to have to fight her."

"Then we won't let that happen!" Nightfire shouted. "We'll find a way to get rid of Jenova with out having to fight her!"

"I'm afraid thats easier said then done." Jo sighed before jumping to his feet as Tiamatt's screams were heard. All four men rushed towards the basement stairs but before they could get there, the screams stopped and laugher was heard.

"No!" Hiro started down the stairs but he heard the laugher behind him and quickly turned around. "Tiamatt!"

"You are a fool. Believing you could prevent my Reunion and then dreaming of ways to stop me. How pathetic!" Tiamatt laughed, looking at the group of four with green slit eyes. "You are all as foolish as that wolf."

"Let her go!" Marth yelled, gun drawn and pointed at her.

"Idiot pup, do you think it is wise to fight in an enclosed space like this?" Jenova sneered. "Its not like you would kill me anyways since this body is Tiamatt's."

"But we can still hurt you!" Hiro yelled, trying to punch her but she disappeared and reappeared behind him, slamming her elbow into his back and sending him to the ground.

"Too slow." Jenova laughed, disappearing again as Nightfire tried to attack her. Again she reappeared and kicked him into Marth and Jo as Hiro stood back up. "You really are a pathetic group and as much as I would like to continue playing this game, I must find the Black Materia."

"What?! No!" Hiro yelled, but Jenova had already disappeared. "Damn it! This is bad!'

"No shit Hiro!" Nightfire growled angerily. "That bitch is gonna pay for that!"

"What? For kicking your ass?" Marth laughed, causing Nightfire to growl again and try to punch the wolf but Jo caught his fist.

"This is no time to fight amongst ourselves." Jo warned. "We must find Tiamatt quickly."

"Jo is right. If Jenova gets ahold of the Black Materia then we're screwed. Tia always has Holy with her and since Jenova controls her right now..." Hiro trailed off, his message clear.

"Alright, let's go then!" Marth nodded, heading till the door. It wasn't till they reached the Ragnorok that they realized another problem. "Um, who knows how to fly this thing?"


	22. Target Found

"Why are you so quiet now?"

**I have nothing to say to you.**

"Fine then." Jenova laughed at the silence before turning towards a kneeling dark haired man.

"Are you pleased, Mother?" Dsanios asked.

"Very. You did well." Jenova grinned. "Have you located the materia yet?"

"No ma'am. We are currently looking for and I believe we are close to finding it."

"...what about the revival of the others? I hope I'm correct to assume we have added more to our ranks." Jenova asked, her eyes narrowed.

Dsanios nodded. 'Yes. We have awoken 30 more of our people just yesterday. However it seems a few refuse your ideals. One of which appears to be my brother."

Jenova raised an eyebrow. "Brother?"

"Yes Mother. My twin brother, Excious, seems to oppose our plans." Dsanios nodded again, stil keeping his head low. "What should we do?"

"Kill him and any of the others who refuse." Dsanios froze for a moment. "Is something wrong?"

"No ma'am." the Remnant stood up. "They will be killed." Jenova smirked slightly as he left...

**Sleeping Forest**

"So what are we going to do?" Nightfire asked, looking shaken from Tiamatt's disappearence when Jenova seized control once more. "Hiro?"

"I...don't know. I never seen Tiamatt have a problem with Jenova, at least not at this level. Every now and then she'd say something about a headache but Jenova never controlled her." Hiro sighed and leaned his head in his hands. "I can't believe this happened and I couldn't stop it."

Marth put a hand on his shoulder. "Hiro, don't worry. We'll figure this out and get her back. And at least she's not alone. She still has her sword with her so Dad is still with her."

"But what can Oblivion do?! He's damn near powerless since he locked his soul into the blade." Hiro pointed out, shrugging Marth's hand away and standing up. "What if Jenova gets a hold of the Black Materia? What will happen then?"

Everyone became silent, the answer obvious.

"There must be someway to stop Meteor."

Hiro gave a short laugh. "Yeah, the White Matetia, which, must I remind you, Tiamatt currently has equipped." Jo looked down as Hiro sighed again. "I'm afraid that...if worst comes to worst...we'll have to..." Hiro paused, not wanting to finish but what he meant to say was clear. If Jenova got the Black Materia, they would have no choice but to kill her, and in killing Jenova, Tiamatt would die as well...

**Hidden Cave/ Cell 3**

"Excious, please, just say that you accept Mother's ideals and you can be free!" Dsanios begged. The man in the cell was turned away from the Remnant. "Brother please!"

"You are not my brother Dsanios!" The prisoner hissed, glaring over his shoulder at his twin with bright yellow eyes, his pupils dialated to slits. "And I will never follow Jenova!"

"Why?"

Excious growled, the sound was unhuman as he spun around to face his brother. "Why?! Look what we have been turned into because of her?! We're freaks!" To prove his point, Excious raised an arm and watch as it went from a human hand to a scaled dragon claw and back again.

Dsanios grinned, copying his brother's example. "Don't you see dear brother? This is Mother's gift! We are one of the few that she has accepted to be the elite of the elite. The ones whose powers are the closest match to the powers her own body possesses."

Excious sighed, still glaring at his brother. "Dsanios, you are merely being used as a tool. Once the Black Materia is found, you will be thrown away. When Meteor is summoned, Jenova will leave this world alone."

"You lie! Mother will save her most faithful and powerful allies! Only the weak will perish!"

"Keep telling yourself this Dsanios, but when the end comes, you will know the truth." Excious warned as his brother turned and walked away.

Dsanios growled something to himself as he slammed the door behind him and walked to the sleeping quarters.

"Sir!" The Remnant stopped and looked over his shoulder as a lower ranking Remnant ran towards him. "We've found it!"

Dsanios' eyes brightened and he grinned. "Good. Where is it?"

"Well, sir...we found it but..."

"But what?!"

The lower Remnant gulped nervously. "There was some interferance during the retrieval." Dsanios didn't respond and waited for the creature to continue. "I'm afraid that the Lord of Neptune currently possesses the materia."

"I see. Prepare to attack and tell Mother. She will be pleased."

"Yes sir!"

**Neptune/ Aquil (capital city)**

"So, if Jenova gets her hands on this, we're all dead?" Kai asked, looking at the small black orb carefully. The serpent hadn't appeared to age much in the last twenty years and had helped Hiro, Marth and the others in retrieving the materia after they had tracked Shadow and Remnant movements. Sivu was also present but he mostly listened.

"Yeah, basically." Hiro sighed. "Do you think you can watch over it?"

Kai nodded. "Of course. It'll be safe here." Jo nodded in agreement with his father.

Hiro nodded back and stood up from where he was seated. "Then I guess we should see if we can track Jenova down and get Tiamatt back."

"I have complete faith that you can bring her back. " Sivu reassured him as Marth and Nightfire also stood up and Jo joined them by the door.

Hiro and the others nodded before leaving and a few moments later, the engine of the Ragnorok could be heard. It wasn't long before silence overtook the room, both Kai and Sivu looking at the Black Materia.

"Its strange to think something so small could destroy the entire Sol System if it got into the wrong hands." Kai sighed, picking the orb up and observing its flawless, polished surface.

"Its even stranger to think that the wrong hands belong to one of our best friends and most trusted ally." Kai nodded as Sivu's words, his eyes showing his nervousness and worry.

"But what if she tries to get the materia?"

"We'll have no choice but to fight her." Sivu sighed. "We must prevent her from getting the materia at all cost."

The yeria stiffened as the cold edge of a sword was placed to his throat and Kai's eyes widened as Remnants appeared in the room around them. "You think you can stop me from getting what I desire?" Sivu glanced nervously at the sword at his neck, recognizing it as the Oblivion Blade as he traced it back to Tiamatt. "I needed a weapon and I couldn't let such a fine blade be thrown to the side, even if that annoying wolf is stuck in the sword."

"Kai! Keep the materia safe!" Sivu yelled. Tiamatt frowned and yanked her arm back, the sword slicing the yeria's neck.

"NO! SIVU!" Kai screamed, his best friend going limp and being thrown to the ground. Kai growled angerily as he turned towards Tiamatt, pocketing the Black Materia and drawing Ocean's Flame. "Jenova! Why did you kill him?"

"Simple, he was in my way." Tiamatt/ Jenova shrugged. The Remnants laughed around her. "Now, hand over Meteor and prehaps I will spare your life,...for a while that is."

"Never!" Kai roared, charging at Tiamatt but she disappeared, leaving Kai to stumble as he stopped and spun around to block her sword.

**Stop this! Please! **

Jenova ignored the cry and muttered a quick spell, launching a bolt of lightening towards Kai. The sea serpent let out a startled cry as Jenova disappeared again, only to reappear behind him as he leapt back to avoid the spell.

**NO!**

Kai let out a gasp of shock as he slowly looked at the sword that was inpaled in his stomach. Jenova smirked, pulling the blade out and swinging it down in one fluid movement as she teleported infront of Kai. As he fell back on to the floor, the Black Materia fell from his pocket and rolled to Jenova's feet.

"Why, thank you Kai." Jenova smirked, picking up the orb before stepping over to him and watching his eyes dull. "Foolish serpent." Jenova raised one arm as she turned away from the body, pressing the materia against her forearm till its dark glow could be seen under her flesh. "Perfect. Let us leave."

The Remnants nodded and disappeared as Jenova teleported everyone back to their hideout. Several guards, hearing the commotion, ran into room but the act was done. Kai and Sivu were dead and Jenova now had the Black Materia. The news of his father's death hit Jo hard but the young serpent quickly grew more determined to stop Jenova as did Marth and Nightfire. Hiro, however, grew quiet, scared of the outcome they were now being faced with.

"Tia must have felt like this...when Void attacked..." Hiro muttered, looking out the window of the Ragnorok. "I don't want to kill her."

"Hiro, is there something else besides Holy that could stop her?" Marth asked, hoping there was another option.

The blonde shook his head. "No. The only person who I believe could possibly bring the real Tiamatt back is dead. And I doubt He would allow Sephiroth to come back like he allowed me to."

"Sephiroth? Of course he can't come back." Nightfire snorted, leaning back in his seat, his eyes closed. "He tried to destroy the world."

"Its not like he had a choice in the matter, Nightfire. He, too, was controlled by Jenova." Hiro answered back. Nightfire opened his eyes a little to look at Hiro and rolled his eyes. "And I know for a fact that Tia had a strong bond with Sephiroth. If it wasn't for her or that bond, I would've died when I was 13. But like you said, he can't come back."

"So we'll just find another way." Marth offered, trying to cheer everyone up.

"Guys, theres Remnant activity on Centra, by that old dessert island." Jo said suddenly, grabbing everyone's attetion.

"Centra? Isn't that the area Tia told me used to be Mideel?" Hiro asked himself as Jo turned the ship south. "I know that area is famous for weak crust but why there?" Hiro thought it over for a moment before his eyes went wide. "We need to get there now!"


	23. Failed Prophecy

"Hmm..." Jenova looked down at the overgrown jungle that was all that remained of Mideel, most of the area giving way to cliffs, mountians, and prarie. "This area should do as the Northern Cave is currently surrounded by the forces of several worlds."

"Ma'am!" Tiamatt turned to look at Dsanios as he came running at her. "They've escaped!"

Jenova's eyes narrowed. "What? I thought they were to be killed. How could they escape?"

"I-I'm not sure but it seems that Excious is leading them." Dsanios stuttered, as Jenova's eyed narowed even more and an angry growl was heard.

"Find them and kill them immediately while I finish the preparations!" The Calamity growled. Dsanios nodded and hurried off, Jenova's gaze following him till she turned back towards the forest. An orb glowed red in her arm as she raised it to the sky and a blast of energy shot into the sky. "Sin, attack the planet!"

A roar followed her command and a black and grey dragon dropped from the sky, backwinging slightly till he hovered above the forest. A ball of flaming blue energy formed at his mouth as he slowly swept insectiod like wings through the now oddly quiet air. Bahamut Sin's head snapped back at the force of releasing and launching the energy at the ground and in an instant, the entire forest seemed to explode, leaving a relativly shallow yet wide crater visible. Jenova smirked as Lifestream slowly filled the crater and snaked skywards before gaining rotation and forming a slowly spinning vortex of Lifestream. Sin launched yet another ball of energy towards the crater, deepening it and forcing more Lifestream to surface.

"This will do." Jenova smirked, eyes never leaving the swirling green mass of Lifestream. Sin roared, pleased at his own work as Jenova laughed.

**Ragnorok**

"Did you just see that?" Marth gasped, eyes never leaving Bahamut Sin as the dragon launched another energy blast at the crater. "Why is that dragon attacking the forest?"

"Its because Jenvoa ordered Sin to destory what used to be the city of Mideel. It was known for having an abnormally weak crust and mako fountains were common. Jenova is trying to prepare for Meteor's summoning." Hiro explained, his anger evident as well as his worry as he searched for Jenova. Hiro clenched his fist when he noticed she was laughing, raising yet another arm to the sky. "Jo, open the hatch."

"What?!" The serpent snapped his head around to look at the blonde. "Are you crazy?!"

"Just do it Jo!" Hiro snapped back, walking towards the elevator. "Trust me I have an idea. I'm not sure if it will work but I can try."

"What do you mean?" Nightfire asked, confused as an odd white glow started to emit from Hiro.

"Please, open the hatch and let me do this." Hiro asked, looking over his shoulder slightly to reveil that his eyes had becomealsmost completely white though blue could still be seen. "If I fail then you guys might still be able to stop her." Jo nodded and pressed a couple switches before facing Hiro again and nodding once more. "Thank you."

Hiro dashed down the corridors till he reached the cargo bay where the hatch was indeed open. Stepping to the edge of the opening, Hiro peered down at the ground below before launching himself out of the ship, releasing an emense amount of pent up power that engulfed him in light before being scattered as large white feathered wings broke through. He spirled down to the ground before pulling up sharply and rocketing infront of the Ragnorok, startling Marth, Nightfire, and Jo.

Jenova noticed the angel flying at her as the Lifestream began to be absorbed into the black materia in her arm as its glow darkened and energy began to build up around her, the Lifestreams flow remaining steady. Hiro pulled a large sword as he continued towards her, the guard looking like wings as the blade itself had small jewels embedded in it. In a smooth arc, the blade cut through the Lifestream, stopping the flow and causing Jenova to growl angerly.

"You idiot! Do you know what you just did?"

Hiro smirked, landing a few feet away. "Of course I do. I stopped you from summoning Meteor."

Jenova growled again, drawing the Oblivion Blade. "You will pay!" She roared, launching herself at Hiro.

The angel leapt back, blocking the blow with his sword. "Come on Tia. Pull through! I don't want to have to kill you!"

**Don't you think I'm trying!? **Tiamatt yelled mentally, even though her brother couldn't hear her.

_Keep trying! _Oblvion encouraged, speaking from the sword._ I might be able to help you but not much. Still it should be enough to give you momentary control._

**Oblivion...You've helped me enough.**

_Tiamatt, let me do this. If it makes you feel better then think of it not as me saving you but saving the planet. _

**Fine...then do it.**

Hiro blocked the Oblivion Blade once more as Jenova continued to attack. Marth and the others had landed and were fighting the Remnants that were trying to help Jenova. Hiro finally decided to try to push Jenova back instead of the other way around, hoping that maybe if she was distracted by blocking his attacks, that Tiamatt might have a chance to pull through. However, as soon as Hiro tried to go on the offensive, Jenova teleported out of the way.

"Pathetic." Jenova taunted, standing directly behind Hiro. The angel spun around to meet the Calamity but she had teleported once more. "You'll never be able to land a blow on me if you keep holding back your power like that."

"...I don't want to hurt Tiamatt."

Jenvoa laughed, dodging his sword once more. "You fool, don't you realize the only way to destroy me is to kill Tiamatt? If you really want to stop me from summoning Meteor then you would attack without hesitation at your full strength."

"..." Hiro just glared at the Calamity as he tightened his grip on his sword before finding himself pressed high against the side of a cliff, bound by some unseen force that he instantly recognized as sorceress magic.

Jenova grinned before facing the crater again. "Be a good boy now and watch." Spreading dark red wings, Jenova attempted to push off the ground but couldn't, her legs not obeying her will as she also tried to access the Black Materia. "What?!"

Everyone stopped and turned to look at Jenova as she now became the one that was screaming, the Oblivion Blade giving off an odd glow.

**I won't allow you to use my body anymore Jenova.**

"NO! This is my body now!" Jenova snarled, one hand on her head, the other hand twitching oddly as Tiamatt tried to keep the sword in her hand while Jenova tried to drop it. The blade suddenly glowed brightly, it energy surging through the hilt and into Jenova's body, causing her to scream louder then before.

_Tiamatt! Now!_

"NO! I won't let you! This is my b-" Jenova screamed, only to stop suddenly, her eyes flickering between green slits and blue eyes.

"Tiamatt!" Hiro yelled. His cry seemed to help as her eyes remained a steady blue and the magic that restrained him to the cliff disappeared, allowing him to land infront of her. Tiamatt latched onto her brother crying into his shoulder as his wings disappeared and his eyes and sword returned to normal. "Tiamatt, are you alright?"

"Hiro...I'm sorry. Please forgive me for what I must do." Tiamatt sobbed, pulling away from him to pull the Black Materia from her arm before handing it to him. "Take this and hide it. Please Hiro, do this for me."

"Tiamatt what do you mean?" Hiro asked, confused by the way she was acting.

_Tiamatt! Hurry! I can't hold her off much longer!_

Tiamatt nodded to herself before hugging her brother once more. "You've grown so strong Hiro. I'm glad I met you all those years ago."

_Tiamatt!_

"I know, Oblivion." the Cetra muttered quietly to herself before turning her attention back to Hiro. "Take care of yourself Hiro." Tiamatt took a step back, flinching as Oblivion's attempt to block Jenova finally failed and Jenova tried to gain control once more. She turned sharply, back towards the crater and started to run towards the edge.

"Tiamatt! No!" Hiro cried, starting run after her but he legs wouldn't move as they were caught in more sorceress magic. "Tiamatt!"

She ignored the call, spreading her wings wide and flying towards the swirling mass of Lifestream. Tiamatt paused of a second above the vortex but at the second, Jenova tried to seize control. Her wings crumpled at the mixed signal from the two consciousnesses and the fact that Tiamatt had blacked out in attempting to block Jenova. Marth, Nightfire, Jo, and Hiro could only watch as she disappeared into the Lifestream, not even Hasted wings being fast enough to reach her in time.

"Tiamatt!"


	24. Ressurection

"Tiamatt!" Hiro yelled as the Cetra fell from the sky into the swirling mass of Lifestream. Almost immediately, the magic that Tiamatt had used to keep Hiro from stopping her, disappeared. "No...Tiamatt come back!" The blonde started to run towards the edge of the crater but before he could reach it, Marth, Nigthfire, and Jo grabbed him, preventing him from attemptign to follow Tiamatt. "Let me go! I have to help her!"

"Hiro you can't." Marth said quietly, his voice wavering slightly. "She's gone."

"No. She can't be! Tiamatt's too strong for that! She's still alive! I know it!" Hiro screamed, still trying to get to the inside of the crater. He finally broke free from their grasps but before he reached the edge, he fell to his knees, crying. "Tiamatt can't die...she just can't..."

"Tiamatt wasn't immortal, Hiro. All because she doesn't age like most people doesn't mean she can't die." Jo tried to explain though he too was having a hard time dealing with the fact that Tiamatt was gone.

But the pain that Marth, Nightfire, and him felt was nothing compared to how Hiro felt. The blonde haired man had considered Tiamatt family for a great many years and they had faced a lot together but after so many years around her, he was starting to believe that she would always be there, alive, to help him, offer support, and continue being his friend and older sister, his family. Now she was gone...

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Tiamatt didn't know where she was or how long she had been there. All she knew was someone was holding her, gently caressing her face.

"Tia..." The voice as familar, echoing back at her from her past. A voice that she had longed to hear again since she had witnessed his death so many years ago. Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself staring directly into a pair green eyes. "So you're finally awake."

"Sephiroth?" Tiamatt asked slowly, not believing what her senses were telling her even though she could feel his warm body holding her gently to him, could hear his voice say her name, could see his eyes staring into her's, full of the love they had almost always carried for her. Tiamatt sat up suddenly, wrapping her arms around his neck, surprising the silver haired man who returned her embrace. "I can't believe it."

Sephiroth laughed. "Believe it Tiamatt. I'm really here."

"But wait," Tiamatt pulled away, looking at the swordsman in confusion. "If you here, then I'm...dead."

"Well, yes but no." Tiamatt looked even more confused. "Because you are a Sorceress, you can't fully join the Lifestream till you choose someone to inherit your powers. Untill then, your basically stick in limbo. Not really dead, but not really alive either."

Tiamatt nodded slowly. "I think I understand, but...Time Compression is too powerful. I can't release it to someone else even if it means I get to be with you again."

Sephiroth's face dropped a little but he nodded. "I understand."

"And I think I have a solution though you two will be seperated again." Tiamatt's eyes widened as she recognized the voice and turned to see the speaker.

"Oblivion!" The wolf king smirked as Tiamatt stood up and embraced him.

"Don't forget us Tia." the Cetra turned again to see Kai and Sivu standing near by. She smiled for a moment before her face fell and she looked away from them. "Aw, come on Tiamatt. It wasn't your fault."

"Jenova killed us, not you so don't plan yourself for our deaths." Sivu agreed, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you." Tiamatt said quietly, giving a small smile over her shoulder at the yeria and the serpent. "I think I needed to hear that."

Sephiroth laughed, standing beside her. "Tiamatt, you blame yourself for too much. You need to learn to forgive yourself." Tiamatt looked up at him and gave a small smirk. "Now what was it you were saying, Oblivion?"

"Oh, I have a plan but for it to work we need everyone else here as well." Oblivion explained.

As if on que, over a dozen people materialized into the relatively empty space, all of which Tiamatt recognized, causing her eyes to widen. All of her friends and companions from her thousands of years of life surrounded her, some smiling while others waved or gave a small nod in acknowledgement. She even recognized Hiro's parents, Razen and Lorille Aoyama, in the crowd as well as Hiro's best friend, Arxen.

"Tiamatt, we understand that you believe the Time Compression is too powerful to unleash on someone who does not under its power and possible consequences and we agree with you." Razen said.

"That is why we will attempt to return you to the living world as long as you agree to not abuse your power." Tiamatt had to turn completely around to look at Edea. The former sorceress gave her a trusting smile. "Do you wish to continue?"

Tiamatt looked up at Sephiroth who gave her a sad yet understanding smile. "I understand if you want to go. You've got friends back there and Hiro too. Who knows, prehaps you find someone who loves you and vise verca."

Tiamatt looked hurt by his words. "Seph, you were my first, my last, my only. Please don't ask that of me."

"Tiamatt, too long you have mourned over me. Too long have you felt guilt over what happened to me. Its not your fault. It never was but because of it, you pushed away any man who showed any interest in you. Please Tia, I want you to be happy, even if its with another man. As long as your happy, then I'll be satisfied." Sephiroth said, embracing her.

"Who would ever love a freak like me?" The Cetra muttered, not returning the embrace.

"I have and do and always will." Sephiroth whispered. Tiamatt could feel a sob rise in the back of her throat but fought it back. "You are not a freak, only different. Nothing more."

"Al-alright. I'll try but please forgive me if I continue to push people away. Old habits die hard." Tiamatt said slowly, finally hugging the silver haired man, before they released each other and she faced the others again. "Take me back."

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It had been several weeks since Tiamatt's disappearence and while Hiro still had hope that she would come back, he was starting to waver. Marth, Nightfire, and Jo all tried to comfort him but it just made him feel worse as they all believed she was gone. The blonde was almost never at the house that he had come to call home over the last twenty years, the silence that emited from the house since Tiamatt's disappearence unnerved him. Not that the Tiamatt was particularly loud anyways but occasionally, a flurry of cursing could be heard from the basement as she wired something wrong or something crashed.

Even the Ragnorok remained unused after it was returned to the clearing in the forest. The only time Hiro approached it was when his sword slipped from his hand during solo training and left a long gash on the red metal of the ship. He immediately paniced and began to repair the scratch only to realize afterwards that Tiamatt was no longer there to see what he had accidently done to her beloved Ragnorok.

Hiro spent most of his time hunting down any of the Remnants that remained on Earth and trying to find any information on Tiamatt, eventually leading him to find Excious and the escapees. The Remnant agreed to help Hiro track down his brother, Dsanios and the others that had followed Jenova but it still remained a difficult task. Hiro still carried the Black Materia, having yet to have found someplace to hide it but upon reaching a coast and seeing the deep ocean, Hiro spread his dragon wings and flew out to the middle of seemly nowhere and dropped the orb into the depths.

A few days later, he received word that the Oblivion Blade had washed up on shore on the small continent that once held the city of Balamb along with Balamb Garden. After retrieving the weapon, Hiro returned to the Sleeping Forest to place the sword beside the Ragnorok. He stayed at the house that night but due to sleeplessness, eventually wandered off to the Forbidden City. It was there that he found something startling.

As Hiro walked down the path towards the center of the city, he noticed one of the several lakes that were scattered through out the city. Nothing seemed special about it till he noticed a crumpled shape near the water's edge.

"Probably just some animal." Hiro said to himself trying to ignore it and continued walking.

Eventually, Hiro found himself rather close to the same lake and he looked back at the animal only to realize it wasn't an animal at all. It was human, or more specifically, a woman. Wondering what someone was doing in the city, he walked over to her, the woman seemly not noticing him. It wasn't till he was a few feet away that he recognized her.

"Tiamatt?" Hiro asked cautiously.

When she didn't respond, he grew worried and ran the remaining few feet to her side. The blonde knelt beside her, noticing that the Cetra's breathing was slow and shallow and after putting two fingers to her neck, noticed how faint her pulse was.

"Tiamatt!" Tiamatt still didn't respond, remaining motionless. "Tiamatt!" Same result. "Tiamatt please! Wake up!" This time, her hand twitched, not much but enough to let him now that she heard him.

"Hi...ro..." It was barely audible but Hiro smiled, happy that his sister was still alive, as he picked her up.

"I'm here Tia, don't worry." the blonde reassured her, though she didn't respond this time. "Let's get you home ok?"

Tiamatt was still silent, not moving or responding at all as he returned to the Forest and layed her down on the couch in the living room. Hiro knew she was alive though as she continued to breath and as the days went on, her pulse became stronger, even though she still hadn't responded to him since he had found her. From what he could tell, Tiamatt had a mild case of Mako Posioning but she was getting better day by day and just knowing she was still alive was enough. Finally, almost a month after her disappearence and two weeks since she had been found, Tiamatt woke up.

"Ugh..." Tiamatt moaned, slowly opening her eyes, blinking as they tried to adjust to the light in the room which seemed abnormally bright though in reality the only light in the room came from the sunlight that streamed through the windows. "Am I...alive?"

"Tiamatt?" Hiro stood up and walked over to where she was laying down as she tried to sit up, "Tia, take it easy. You just recovered!"

"Hiro?" Tiamatt asked, almost disbelieving that he was there. In an instant, Tiamatt was on her feet, hugging her brother. "I can't believe I'm back."

Hiro was confused but returned her hug none the less. "What do you mean Tia?"

"Sit down Hiro. I have a lot to tell you." She sighed, realizing just how hard it was going to be for him to believe her. Hiro looked curious as he sat beside her on the couth. "Ok, first off, you're probably wondering what happened to me."

"Of course." Hiro laughed, causing Tiamatt to laugh too.

"Well, you see. I died but I didn't. I was basically in limbo, unable to move on because I haven't choosen anyone to inherit my sorceress powers. But I got to see everyone again, including your parents and Arxen."

Hiro went wide eyed. "You saw them?!"

"Yep." Tiamatt nodded, grinning. "They actually helped me and they explained somethings about you that I was confused about. Like the fact that you still look like your twenty and don't seem to age anymore. Apparently, even though Void was apparently removed, his blood stopped your natural aging processes when you turned twenty."

"So thats why. To be honest, I was also curious about that." Hiro sighed, giving a small laugh before he turned serious. "What about Jenova?"

"Her cells have been neuturalized preventing her from controlling me but still allowing me to use their transformative properties." Tiamatt explained. "I have to be carefull though. Any contact with active cells and I'll be vulnerable again."

"Then we just won't let that happen." Hiro reassured her.

Tiamatt laughed. "Thanks Hiro. Now come on. Lets find Marth and the others. I want to see their faces!" Hiro laughed as he helped her stand up and headed for the Ragnorok, retrieving her sword before taking off...


	25. In the End

"So...you want to restart Garden" Nightfire asked slowly, making sure he heard Tiamatt right.

The Cetra nodded. "Yes. This is a good way to help rebuild the trust between worlds as well as train those to help us track down all the Remnants."

"You're gonna run it right?" Marth asked.

Tiamatt nodded again. "I will be running most of the primary operations while Excious helps."

"Excious? We thought you would choose Hiro." Jo said in shock.

"Yeah, well, having Excious as the second in command of Garden was my idea." Hiro admitted with a laugh. "But I'll still help where I can. I just don't want to be stuck in an office all day."

Tiamatt laughed as she spread a large blueprint out over the table they all surrounded. The plans showed a large building, the size of a small city, with a large metal ring that spun below it. A large landing strip was located to one side while what looked almost like a park circled the entire building. The inside of the building was split into several different centers including the Training Center that would be stocked with wild monsters, the Cafeteria, the Infirmry, the Dorms, the Garage, the Quad, and the Library. The second floor held the class rooms while the third held the main office and control stations for the hovering building. There were two lower levels below the main level. The first being a gym and an area where everyone could practice basic weapons skills and spar against each other. The level below was basically a reinforced version of the main floor, complete with dorms and an infirmry for emergencies. Over all, it looked much like Balamb Garden when it was still in use.

"Wow..." was all Nightfire, Marth, and Jo could say as Tiamatt explained the layout of what would be Terra Garden.

Tiamatt laughed and rolled the plans back up. "Construction has already begun and will be complete in a year. Then Garden will be open for enrollment. I'm currently looking for instructors and if you guys are interested then just tell me though I understand if you don't since you've got your own worlds to worry about."

"Are you sure you're up for this Tia?" Hiro asked.

"After what I've been through, this should be nothing." Tiamatt answered causing the three planetary rulers to each exchange amused glances. "What?"

"Nothing Tia, its just..." Jo started.

"Running something like a planet or Garden for that matter is harder then you think." Marth finished with a sigh.

Tiamatt just gave the wolf, serpent, and phoenix a defiant glare. "Hmph, so you don't think I can do this. Is that what you three are getting at?"

"No, of course not!" Nightfire shot back, eyes wide. "We know you can. We're just saying its not as easy as you make it sound."

"I guess I'll find out, won't I?" Tiamatt asked with a smirk as she tucked the blueprint under her arm. "Now, as much as I would like to talk more with you on the plan, I have to meet Excious to discuss a few things with him."

Hiro nodded. "Alright. You go ahead. I want to visit with these guys some more." Tiamatt nodded before heading for the door. "See you later!" The Cetra smiled at them and waved before she left.Once she was gone the three men turned towards each other and sighed.

"She seems...happier almost." Jo commented. Nightfire, Marth, and Hiro nodded in agreement.

"I think she is, now that Jenova is gone." Hiro admitted. "Tia's dealt with her for so long. It has to be a relief to finally be free. I know I was."

Marth gave the blonde a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." Hiro said quietly. The others continued to give him curious looks before shrugging. "At least Tia is acting like herself again." Nightfire,

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Tiamatt eyes were bright as she looked at the finally completed structure. It had taken a full year to complete but now it was ready to be opened. Already, she was scanning through student applications along with those for the few teaching positions that were still open. Excious was facing a similiar situation and even Hiro was helping with the apps as they seemed to pour in. Most of the applications were for normal education though just as many kept the military aspect of Garden alive.

Tiamatt silently thanked Marth, Nightfire, Jo, and even Granis as they helped clear her name and whatever image those of the Sol System had gained of her during her time under Jenova's control. Without them, she was sure people would be discourges from coming to Terra Garden but luckily, it seemed everyone wanted a chance to even just meet her after her past was revealed to the planets. But there were those who also just wanted to come simply to better themselves.

"One more week, then Garden will offically open its doors." Tiamatt said quietly to herself, looking up at the giant structure.

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"Thirty years, can you believe it Hiro?" Tiamatt asked excitedly as she watched some of the student bring out the preparations for the annual Garden Festival.

Hiro laughed from beside her as Excious stood on her otherside. "You get excited every year when its festival time."

Excious chuckled at that. "He's right, Tiamatt."

The Cetra rolled her eyes before spotting Marth, Nightfire, and Jo. "Marth! Nightfire! Jo!" The three rulers waved at her and made their way over to where she stood with Hiro and Excious.

"Its been a while." Hiro smiled. "You guys know you're welcome anytime!"

"Yeah, we know. We've just been busy." Marth explained. Nightfire and Jo nodded in agreement.

"You think after fifty years, my people would have recovered from the short time my brother reigned but I'm still trying to work things out." Nightfire admitted with a sigh. "By the way, have you heard any news on him since his escape?"

Excious nodded. "Yes actually. We've heard that he's now allied with the Remnants. We've also been trying to track down Dsanios."

"That guy was a creep." Tiamatt muttered, causing the others to laugh. "But the sooner we find him, the better since he is apparently the leader of the Remnants." Everyone nodded in agreement. "We currently have SeeD scattered through out the worlds searching for any sign of the Remnants. Hopefully we'll find him soon."

"Tiamatt, I believe the preparations for the festival are almost complete. Should we go check?" Excious noted.

"Yeah, better make sure everything is where its supposed to be. We don't want a repeat of last year." The Cetra sighed, causing the group to laugh when they remember how the poor organization skills of that year's festival committee had resulted into somewhat of a domino effect after someone accidently bumbed a table and sent food and drink crashing to the floor and later lead to more accidents.

Taking a step towards the quad, the Cetra suddenly gasped in pain and grabbed her shoulder, teeth clenched in pain.

"Tiamatt!" Hiro cried, grabbing her shoulder to hold her steady as she stumbled from the intense waves of pain originating from her upper arm and lower neck. However, the touch sent another powerful wave of pain coursing through the area, causing Tiamatt to black out from its intensity. Spotting something on her neck, Hiro's eyes widened as Dr. Lecia was called. "It can't be..."

"Hiro, we need to take her to the infirmry!" Excious ordered. The blonde looked up at Garden's second and command and nodded, quickly running to the luckily nearby infirmry.

Tiamatt was soon resting in a bed, Hiro sitting beside her, staring at the strange scab like wound on her lower neck.

"Why didn't you tell me, Tia?" Hiro asked though his sister was still unconscious. Lecia looked at him sadly as she bandaged what she could. "How bad is it?"

"Its spread across her upper arms, on to her shoulder and starting to spread across her back, chest, and neck." Lecia answered, not missing the worried look on the blonde haired man's face. "Hiro, prehaps you should take her home. I think that might be best."

Hiro nodded slowly as Lecia finished wrapping Tiamatt's arm and shoulder before standing up and carefully picking her up. "Please tell Excious and the others whats going on." Lecia nodded as Hiro left, holding his sister carefully, trying not to agitate the scab/ wounds that were already causing her so much pain.

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Tiamatt groaned slightly before gasping as pain flared in her shoulder again but it soon faded and she opened her eyes to see her brother standing over her, looking concerned. "Hiro? What's wrong?"

"I should be asking you that. How long have you known that you had Geostigma?" Hiro retorted, hurt showing in his eyes.

Tiamatt looked away. "...about 10 months..."

"WHAT?! Tiamatt, why didn't you tell me?!" Hiro shouted. Tiamatt continued to look away as tears started to well up in her eyes. "I could've helped you Tia."

"No you couldn't Hiro. I know you're a Seraph but even with your abilities, somethings can't be stopped." the Cetra replied, finally facing him again. "Besides, you've helped me enough. You don't need to worry about me."

Hiro glared at her in anger. "You're my sister! I always worry about you!"

"Hiro..." Tiamatt said quietly, the tears now falling freely. "I'm sorry but, I'm ready. I feel like I've done what I needed to do here."

"Don't say that Tia!" Hiro yelled, not wanting to believe what she was saying. "I need you here!"

Tiamatt sighed and sat up to hug her brother who was now crying as well. "Hiro, you're grown up now. You have been for a long time. You don't truly need me here. You only want me to stay. Just think of it as me moving way." Hiro let out a loud sob and hugged Tiamatt tighter. "But I'm not gone yet. I have every intention of doing whatever I can before I go and includes spending as much time with you as I can." Hiro only continued to cry, never losening his grip on his sister.

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Tiamatt's funeral was small, only her close friends allowed as was her request.

The day of her death was a strange one. All the worlds seemed oddly calm despite the varied emotions spread throughout Sol System by its people. There was no burial, her body having dissolved into free Lifestream shortly after the Geostigma finally claimed her only a month after telling Hiro of her condition and only two weeks after having fallen into a coma. Despite the private funeral, all of Garden mourned her death.

In the end, all that remained was a simple headstone that sat in a small area outside of Garden where Tiamatt and Hiro were commonly seen sparring or simply talking. Now, Hiro came to place the Oblivon Blade near the empty grave. He laid it gently on the ground, looking at it sadly before standing back up.

"I thought you might want that." He said quietly. "I know how much it means to you." He lightly ran his hand over the edge of the headstone before turning around and starting to walk off.

"I promise we'll see each other again brother."

Hiro spun around instantly at the voice only to find no one else in the area. His eyes fell back on the headstone and he couldn't help but smirk as he noticed the Oblivion Blade was gone. "I'll hold you to your promise, Tia."

* * *

**...I can't believe I wrote this...I hope you all enjoyed the story...**


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